Etymologically
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malice

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English malice, also malis and malece,[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman malice and Old French malice (“ill will, spite, wickedness”),[3][4][5] from Latin malitia (“badness, ill will, spite”),[3][4][5][6] formed from malus (“bad”) and the suffix -itia.[3][7] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the first half of the 12th century, with senses ranging from wickedness and harmful quality to the intent to harm.[8] Barnhart thinks the borrowing was probably helped by the earlier malicious, recorded about 1225 in the “Ancrene Riwle”.[5] The Latin adjective is also the source of malign, malaise, maleficent and the first part of malevolent,[9] and the American Heritage Dictionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *mel-.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The intention or desire to do harm to another; active ill will: before 1325, in the Statutes of the Realm.[3] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to about 1300.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word covered more than ill will: it also meant malicious conduct or a malicious act (c. 1350–1669), harmfulness or the virulence of a disease or poison (1382–1685), the baleful influence of certain stars in astrology (1398–1568), and badness or wickedness in general (1382–1650), all now obsolete.[3] The Middle English Dictionary also records it for cruel words and for harshness in punishing or taxing.[2] As a legal term it is found from 1454, especially in malice aforethought and formerly malice prepense;[3][9] Etymonline dates the legal use to the 1540s.[4] The OED compares medieval Latin phrases such as malitia praecogitata (1304) and Anglo-Norman malice purpensé.[3] The phrase to bear malice is recorded from 1530, in Palsgrave,[3] and Weekley takes it from French porter malice.[10] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as "badness of design" and "ill intention to any one; desire of hurting".[11] In later use the word also weakened to mischief or the wish to tease.[3][12] The verb malice, to bear malice towards someone, is recorded from before 1547,[3][13] and in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire dialect it was still used for spiting or vexing someone.[14]

Timeline

  • before 1325 – ill will, the desire to harm another.[3]
  • c. 1350 – a malicious act (obsolete by 1669).[3]
  • before 1382 – badness, wickedness; harmfulness, virulence (both obsolete by the late 17th century).[3]
  • 1454 – in law, wrongful intent, as in malice aforethought.[3] Etymonline dates the legal use to the 1540s.[4]
  • 1530 – to bear malice.[3]
  • before 1547 – verb, to bear malice towards someone.[3][13]
  • 1650 – figurative, of fortune or impersonal forces.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The wish or intention to harm another person; active ill will or spite: He hid her keys out of sheer malice.[15][13][3]
  2. (law) The state of mind of someone who intends to commit a wrongful act without justification or excuse; see malice aforethought.[15][13][3]
  3. In a weaker sense, mischief or a wish to tease.[3][12]
  4. (obsolete, 1382–1650) Badness; wickedness.[3][12]

Verb

  1. (obsolete) To bear malice towards someone; to wish to injure.[13][3]

Word family

  • malady
  • malign
  • malaise
  • maleficent
  • malevolent

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins