malicious

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English malicious, also malicieus,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman malicious and Old French malicios, malicieux (modern French malicieux),^[3][4][5][6] recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1155 with the senses "with evil intent" and "causing harm".^[7] The French adjective comes from Latin malitiōsus (“wicked, malicious”),^[3][4][8][6] formed from malitia (“badness, ill will, spite”), the source of malice, and -ōsus,^[3][6] from malus (“bad, unpleasant”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or a disposition, full of hate or ill will: before 1250, in the Ancrene Riwle;^[3][2] Etymonline dates it to the mid-13th century,^[4] and Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com to the 13th century.^[6][9]

Semantic evolution

Middle English used the word more widely than today: the MED records it also for "warlike, fierce", "cunning, crafty", "harsh, cruel" and "sad, gloomy".^[2] The OED dates "wicked, sinful" to about 1330–1500, "fierce, warlike" to about 1400 and "clever, artful" to about 1425–1590.^[3] From the late 14th century, in Trevisa, it also meant malignant or harmful, of things, and in astrology of a baleful, unfavourable influence; both senses are now obsolete.^[3] The legal sense, done with malice aforethought, as in malicious prosecution or malicious damage, is recorded from 1421 and follows Anglo-Norman legal use;^[3] Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century in Anglo-French.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined the word as ill-disposed to anyone, intending ill, malignant.^[10] It is now also used in a weakened sense, mischievous, much as French came to use its adjective for witty teasing (1690).^[3] Chaucer uses the word once and Gower twice.^[11] In Caribbean English it can mean tiresomely inquisitive, or meddlesome so as to cause harm.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1250 – of a person, full of hate or ill will.^[3][2]
• c. 1330 – wicked, sinful (obsolete by 1500).^[3]
• before 1398 – malignant, harmful; in astrology, of unfavourable influence (obsolete).^[3]
• c. 1400 – of a thing or act, arising from malice; fierce, warlike (obsolete).^[3]
• 1421 – law, done with malice aforethought.^[3]
• c. 1425 – clever, artful (obsolete by 1590).^[3]
• 1535 – noun, a malicious person, in Coverdale's Bible.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Feeling, showing or caused by malice; meant to hurt or upset: a malicious rumour about the new manager.^[13][6][3]
2. Driven by harmful or spiteful aims, or, in a weaker sense, by a wish to make mischief.^[13][3]
3. (law) Done with malice aforethought or with intent to harm, as in malicious prosecution.^[3][14]
4. (obsolete, c. 1400) Fierce, warlike.^[3][2]
5. (obsolete, 1425–1590) Cunning, crafty.^[3][2]

Word family

• maliciously
• maliciousness
• nonmalicious
• unmalicious
• malicious mischief

Related words

• malice
• malign
• malignant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 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. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press