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malifatius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word malifatius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
inscription (Fabretti)
Ultimate origin
Latin malus#1,fatum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin malifatius
French mauvais

Forms

malifātius (feminine malifātia, neuter malifātium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from malus1 (“bad”) and fātum (“fate”) with the suffix -ius, literally “ill-fated”,[1][2][3] the opposite of the name Bonifātius.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is known from an epitaph that calls a girl named Urbica orfana et malifatia, “orphaned and ill-fated”.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Late Latin) Ill-fated, unfortunate.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Malifatius.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/malifatius. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·