Etymologically
Log in

maleficus

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word maleficus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus
Ultimate origin
Latin (male,faciō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin male
Latin maleficus
Latin maleficium
Latin malignus
French malin
Latin maligne
Latin malignitas
Latin maledicus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [maˈɫɛ.fɪ.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [maˈlɛː.fi.kus][1]

Forms

maleficus m (genitive maleficī); second declension[1] Also malificus, a spelling the TLL compares with magnificus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin male (“badly”) + -ficus (“doing”), belonging with malefaciō (“to do wrong”).[2][1][3] Quintilian cites it as a compound that grew together out of two bodies.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livius Andronicus has it first, in the phrase malefica vacerra, “wicked blockhead”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is evil-doing, wicked or criminal: Cicero has a man wicked and unjust by nature, and wicked and criminal men.[5] Suetonius has the superlative maleficentissimus.[5][2] Of things it is harmful, as the many harmful kinds of animals in Sallust.[2] Apuleius uses it of black magic, and Tacitus has an early instance of that use.[2][6] As a masculine noun it is a wrongdoer or criminal, and in Late Latin a sorcerer.[2][1][4] Medieval Latin keeps maleficus “sorcerer” and malefica “sorceress”.[6] English maleficent was formed from it in the 1670s.[7]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus, “wicked blockhead”.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of wicked men.[5][4]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust, of harmful animals.[2][4]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius, of black magic.[2][4]
  • Medieval Latin – A sorcerer; a sorceress.[6]
  • 1670s – English maleficent.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Evil-doing, wicked, criminal.[2][5][1][8]
  2. Harmful, noxious.[2]
  3. Of black magic, magical.[2][6][8]

Noun

  1. A wrongdoer, criminal.[2][1]
  2. (Late and Medieval Latin) A sorcerer;[1][6] (feminine, malefica) a sorceress.[1][6]

Word family

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 m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Maleficus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/maleficus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·