Etymologically
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mauvais

Etymology and origin of the French word mauvais

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (malveise)
Inherited from
Latin malifatius via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (malus,fātum)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mo.vɛ/[1]
  • IPA: /mɔ.vɛ/[1]

Forms

mauvais (feminine mauvaise, masculine plural mauvais, feminine plural mauvaises, comparative pire, superlative le pire)[1] Old French malveis (1050), malvais (1080), mauvais (about 1160); a shortened form maes, mais (about 1190) survives in Walloon and Picard.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French malvais, inherited from Late Latin malifātius (“ill-fated, unfortunate”), found in an inscription from AD 23, from malum (“bad”), the neuter of malus, and fātum (“oracle, destiny”).[2][4][3][5][1] It is the opposite of “bonifatius” “fortunate”, the source of the name Boniface, and parallels Greek “kakómoiros” and “eúmoiros”.[2][4] Its sense developed like that of méchant.[4][2]

Diez derived it from Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍅𐌰𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌴𐌹 (balwawēsei, “wickedness”), with “b” changed to “m” under the influence of “mal”, Littré found this very probable, but the modern dictionaries follow the Latin etymology.[6][1][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan malvatz; Italian malvagio comes from Gallo-Romance, and Spanish malvado from the Occitan variant “malvat”.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis (malveise guarde “poor watch”), meaning “not as it should be, defective”; in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it already means “unlucky, ill-omened” and “harmful”.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The word had nearly all its modern senses before the 14th century.[2][8] The etymological sense “unfortunate” lives on in en mauvaise posture and de mauvais augure (1671).[2] From the first texts it also meant “harmful, ill-disposed”: mauvaise volonté (about 1200), mauvaise vie (about 1274), femme de mauvaise vie (1690).[2] Of things it meant “defective, worn” (about 1200), “of poor quality” (1320), and of weather mauvais temps (1538).[7][2]

In the sense “morally bad” it competes with méchant, which is stronger.[8] Used as an adverb it appears in sentir mauvais and il fait mauvais.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Malveise in the Vie de saint Alexis.[7]
  • c. 1100 – Malvais “ill-omened” in the Chanson de Roland.[7]
  • c. 1100 – The adverb malvaisement.[7]
  • c. 1200 – Mauvaise volonté.[2]
  • 1320 – Of goods, “of poor quality”.[7]
  • 1538 – Mauvais temps.[2]
  • 1671 – De mauvais augure.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. bad, poor in quality: un mauvais livre, une mauvaise route.[10][11]
  2. wrong, incorrect: la mauvaise réponse.[1]
  3. Unpleasant, disagreeable: une mauvaise odeur, mauvais temps.[6][9]
  4. Harmful, unfavourable: une mauvaise nouvelle, mauvais pour la santé.[7][6]
  5. Wicked, malicious: un mauvais sujet, mauvaise foi.[6][1]
  6. Lacking skill: un mauvais élève.[7]

Adverb

  1. Sentir mauvais: to smell bad, il fait mauvais: the weather is bad.[9]

Noun

  1. What is bad: il y a du bon et du mauvais.[9]

Word family

  • mauvaisement
  • mauvaiseté

Usage notes

The comparative is plus mauvais or pire, the superlative le plus mauvais or le pire.[1][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 95b
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mauvais.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/mauvais. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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