malin French · revision 17519

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1120, Psalter|origins=la malus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ma.lɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malin''' (feminine maligne or maline, masculine plural malins, feminine plural malignes or malines)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|maligne]] for both genders; masculine ''malin'' from about 1460, feminine ''maline'' from the 16th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|malignus|t=wicked, malicious]], from [[m|la|malus|t=bad]] (see [[mal]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 106b) The Old French form was the same for both genders; about 1460 a masculine was made on the model of adjectives in ⟨-in⟩, ⟨-ine⟩, and then a feminine ⟨maline⟩, which survives in popular speech and dialects, while ⟨maligne⟩ became the correct feminine in the 17th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary compares the same reshaping in [[bénin]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Oxford and Cambridge Psalters (first half of the 12th century) use it as a noun for one who delights in doing evil, translating Latin ''malignus''; the ''Livre des Rois'' (about 1170) has ''li malignes esperiz'', the evil spirit.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In religious language ''l'esprit malin'' is a demon, and ''le Malin'' the Devil (1530).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 16th century it was applied to a harmful disease (1539), the origin of ''tumeur maligne'', as opposed to ''bénin''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rey notes that ''malin comme un singe'' (recorded by the Académie in 1718) first referred to the monkey as a diabolical animal, and the image changed with the meaning of the word.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ The modern sense “cunning, clever” appears in Boileau (1669–1674).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) It gave familiar phrases: ''gros malin'' (1808), ''ce n'est pas malin'' “it's not difficult” (1831), ''faire le malin'' “to show off” (1854) and the ironic ''c'est malin !'' “that's clever!” (1802 according to the BHVF, 1867 in the TLFi).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) In Quebec French it keeps the old strong sense, “aggressive” of an animal and “irritable” of a person.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Maligne'', in a psalter.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Li malignes esperiz'', in the ''Livre des Rois''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1460 – The masculine form ''malin'', in Chastellain.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – ''Le Malin'', the Devil.^(TLFi)

+ * 1539 – Of a harmful ulcer.^(TLFi)

+ * 1669–1674 – “Cunning”, in Boileau.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – ''Malin comme un singe''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1831 – ''Ce n'est pas malin''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1854 – ''Faire le malin''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|clever|alt=Clever]], [[m|en|cunning]], shrewd: ''malin comme un singe''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine)'' [[m|en|malignant|alt=Malignant]]: ''tumeur maligne''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' Wicked, malicious: ''un malin plaisir'', a mischievous pleasure, ''l'esprit malin'', the Devil.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Ce n'est pas malin'': it's not difficult, ''c'est malin !'', that's clever! (ironic).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' Of an animal, vicious; of a person, irritable.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A clever, shrewd person: ''faire le malin'', to show off, ''gros malin'', smart alec.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Le Malin'': the [[m|en|Devil]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[malignement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[malignité]]

+ * [[mal]]

+ * [[bénin]]

+ * [[la|malignus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}