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malum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word malum

malum1 evil

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*malo-)
Etymology tree of malum1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin malus
French mal
French malheur
French malheureux
French malgré
Latin malum

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈma.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmaː.lum][1]

Forms

malum n (genitive malī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The noun meaning "evil" is from Latin malus1 (“bad”) + -um, the neuter of the adjective used as a noun.[2][1] De Vaan traces malus to Proto-Italic *malo- and, as an uncertain proposal of Ernout and Meillet, Proto-Indo-European *mol-o- (“bad”).[3] He compares Old Irish mell (“destruction”), Ancient Greek μέλεος (méleos, “idle; unhappy”) and Lithuanian mẽlas (“lie”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus.[4] The OLD's first quotation is Ennius: he is too well off who has no trouble.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is trouble, pain, a misfortune, and in Plautus' phrase ⟨malum dare⟩, to make trouble for someone.[2] It is also evildoing, a misdeed, and an insult: in Plautus someone wants many insults said to him.[2] Cicero uses it of harm and of a disadvantage, Cato of the faults of a crop.[2] It can be a cause of mischief, a disease, and of persons a pest: Lucan calls Alexander the Great the fated evil of the world.[2] As an oath it is an exclamation added to a question, "the devil!", from Plautus on.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of trouble and misdeeds, and as an oath.[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of trouble.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of harm.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of a disease.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Trouble, distress, pain;[2][1] malum dare, to make trouble for;[2][1] malō, to one's hurt.[2][1]
  2. A misfortune, woe.[2][1]
  3. Evildoing, wickedness; a misdeed.[2][1]
  4. An insult, reproach; in the plural, abuse.[2][1]
  5. Harm, damage; an injury.[2][1]
  6. A disadvantage; a fault.[2]
  7. A cause of mischief, an evil; a disease; of persons or monsters, a pest.[2][1]

Interjection

  1. Added to a question as an oath: the deuce!, the devil![2][1]

malum2 apple

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek μῆλον
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (μῆλον)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmaː.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmaː.lum][1]

Forms

mālum n (genitive mālī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The fruit is probably borrowed from Ancient Greek μῆλον (mêlon, “apple, tree fruit”), in the Doric form μᾶλον (mâlon).[2][5][1] Wiktionary considers a common inheritance from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂lom less likely.[1] Köbler thinks the Greek word probably came from the Mediterranean region.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, with a pun on the other word: a pregnant woman must be given both a bad thing and an apple, so that she has something to gnaw.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It first covered most soft-skinned tree fruit, and later meant above all the apple.[2] Lewis & Short note that it was applied to quinces, pomegranates, peaches, oranges and lemons, with adjectives such as Pūnicum for the pomegranate.[5][2] Fruit ended a Roman dinner, so Horace's proverb ⟨ab ōvō usque ad māla⟩, from the egg to the apples, means from beginning to end.[2][5] Varro uses it of the golden apples of the Hesperides.[2] It was also a fruit tree, the fruit of the mandrake, and, as ⟨mālum terrae⟩, birthwort.[2][5] Justin has ⟨mālum discordiae⟩, an apple of discord.[5] Church Latin glosses it apple.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus puns on it.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of planting fruit trees.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace's proverb of eggs and apples.[2][5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of birthwort.[2][5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tree fruit with a soft skin; later especially an apple; with adjectives, a quince, pomegranate, peach or citron.[2][5][6][1]
  2. ab ōvō usque ad māla, from beginning to end.[2][5]
  3. A fruit tree.[2]
  4. The fruit of the mandrake.[2]
  5. mālum terrae, birthwort.[2][5][1]

Word family

  • mālētum
  • mālicorium
  • mālifer
  • mālinus
  • mālogrānātum

Usage notes

Medieval Latin also has a malum meaning the clapper of a bell, of unclear origin.[7][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Malum.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/malum. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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