malitiosus

Forms

malitiōsus (feminine malitiōsa, neuter malitiōsum, comparative malitiōsior); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin malitia (“wickedness, malice”) + -ōsus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan dates malitia from Plautus among the derivatives of malus¹ (“bad”), which he reconstructs as Proto-Italic *malo- and, following Ernout and Meillet, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *mol-o- (“bad”); he calls this uncertain, since the comparanda are isolated words in different branches.^[4] Isidore of Seville explained the adjective as worse than merely bad, because it means frequently bad.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Afranius,^[5] whose comedy has istaec malitiosa non tam calleo, “I am not so practised in these sly tricks”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It means wicked, malicious, crafty, both of people and of actions.^[2][6] The Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of Carthage dolis malitiosa, full of tricks, and Cicero has a malitiosa iuris interpretatio, a crafty interpretation of the law, and lists the word among terms for cunning, deceitful men.^[2][3] The TLL also records it in Tertullian, in the Vulgate, and in Firmicus Maternus of the baleful power of malevolent stars.^[3] The name Silva Malitiosa appears in Livy: the OLD places the wood in Samnium, while Georges and Conte place it in Sabine territory.^[2][7][8] Medieval British writers use it of malicious people and thoughts, and also, in botany and medicine, for harmful or poisonous, and in astrology of a malign planet.^[9] Through Old French malicios it gave English malicious in the mid-13th century, and it is the source of Italian malizioso.^[10][8]

Timeline

• 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it in a comedy.^[3][5]
• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium calls Carthage dolis malitiosa.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a crafty interpretation of the law.^[2][6][5]
• mid-13th century – English malicious is recorded, from Old French.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Wicked, malicious, crafty, knavish; of things, deceitful, done with malice.^[2][6][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) Harmful, poisonous; in astrology, malign.^[9]
3. Silva Malitiosa, the name of a wood in Italy.^[2][7]

Word family

• malitiositas

Related words

• malitia
• malus¹

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com