malicieux

Forms

malicieux (feminine malicieuse, masculine plural malicieux, feminine plural malicieuses)^[1] Old French malicios (Wace); malicieux is found about 1206, in Guiot de Provins.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin malitiōsus (“wicked, deceitful”),^[3][4][5][6] from malitia (“wickedness”), the source of malice.^[3][5]

Cognate with Picard malichieux, Old Occitan malicios, Spanish malicioso and Italian malizioso.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1155, in Wace's Roman de Brut, of a wicked, perverse person.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word meant deceitful, perverse, wicked; about 1265 Brunetto Latini applied it to things showing wickedness, levres malicieuses.^[3][7] Like malice, it weakened from wickedness to mischief: in 1690 Boursault uses it of someone given to mockery.^[3][5] Only from the early 19th century (malicieux sourire, 1821) does it describe a look or smile that shows a teasing mind.^[5][3] Classical French still used it in the old sense, as Molière did.^[2]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace uses malicios of a wicked person.^[3][2]
• c. 1206 – The spelling malicieux appears in Guiot de Provins.^[2]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini has levres malicieuses.^[3]
• c. 1275 – The adverb malicieusement is recorded.^[5]
• 1690 – Boursault uses it for a person given to mockery.^[3][5]
• 1821 – Malicieux sourire is recorded.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (obsolete) wicked, ill-intentioned.^[8][3]
2. mischievous, teasing: fond of laughing or playing tricks at others' expense: un garçon malicieux.^[8][2]
3. Showing malice in this sense: un regard malicieux, une réponse malicieuse.^[8][3]

Noun

1. A mischievous person: petit malicieux !^[2][7]

Word family

• malicieusement

Related words

• malice
• Latin malitiōsus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 113a
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert