English
malversation
Malversation comes from French malversation ‘malversation, corruption’, from Latin male ‘cruelly, wickedly’, and ultimately from malus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalus‘bad, wicked’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmale‘cruelly, wickedly’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmalverser
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentmalversation‘malversation, corruption’
- Englishearliest quotation 1549same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalus‘bad, wicked’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmale‘cruelly, wickedly’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmalverser
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentmalversation‘malversation, corruption’
- Englishearliest quotation 1549same form
Earliest quotation: 1549, chapter XIX: “the euyl exempil of ther maluersatione prouokyt the pepil…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- ‘false, erroneous’
through Archaic Latin malos
through Latin malus ‘bad, wicked’
malicious, mali, pessimist, malus, 10 more
through Latin male ‘cruelly, wickedly’
Today it means
noun Corrupt behaviour, illegitimate activity, especially by someone in authority.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin malus / malversation