Etymologically
Log in

malacia

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word malacia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 50 BC, Caesar
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek μαλακία
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μαλακία

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [maˈɫa.ki.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [maˈlaː.t͡ʃi.a][1]

Forms

malacia f (genitive malaciae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μαλακία (malakía, “softness”),[2][3][1][4] from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”).[1][4] Köbler connects the Greek adjective with Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“to crush, grind”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Caesar.[2][3] In the sea battle against the Veneti in the Gallic War a calm suddenly fell, so complete that the enemy ships could not move from the spot.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the dead calm of the sea Seneca took a figure: to lie in undisturbed leisure is not tranquillity but a stagnant calm.[3] Medical writers used it for a sickness of the stomach, loss of appetite and nausea;[2][3][1] Pliny the Elder mentions it in pregnant women.[2][3][1] The TLL notes that it is often written ⟨malatia⟩ and confused with malitia.[5]

Wiktionary lists a Vulgar Latin *bonacia among its derivatives.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a dead calm at sea.[2][3][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it figuratively of stagnant leisure.[3][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of nausea in pregnancy.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dead calm at sea;[2][3] (figurative) stagnation, inactivity.[3]
  2. (medicine) Nausea, loss of appetite.[2][3][1]
  • malacus

Usage notes

A separate neuter plural malacia, from Greek, appears in Eustathius' Latin version of Basil's Hexaemeron as the name of sea creatures with soft flesh.[5][4]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Malacia.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/malacia. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·