malefactum Latin · revision 33517

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la male, la faciō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malefactum''' ''n'' (genitive malefactī); second declension.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Also written separately, ''male factum'',^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and syncopated ''malfactum'' in Plautus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|malefaciō|t=to do wrong, harm]],^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) used as a noun in the neuter of its participle.^(Lewis & Short 1879) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|male|t=badly]] and [[m|la|faciō|t=to do]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Trinummus'' has the syncopated form ''malfactum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In a line of Ennius quoted by Cicero it is set against ''benefacta'': ''benefacta male locata malefacta arbitror'', “kindnesses badly bestowed I count as misdeeds”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In classical Latin it means a wrong done, an injury or a misdeed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Plautus' ''omnia malefacta vostra repperi'', “I have found out all your misdeeds”, uses the plural, and Cicero speaks of making a wrong seem greater.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein calls it a near-synonym and, as it were, a paraphrase of ''dēlictum'' and ''peccātum'', whereas ''maleficium'' and ''facinus'' carry a direct moral charge.^(Döderlein 1874) In Ecclesiastical Latin it means an injury or an evil deed,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval Latin an offence; the feminine ''malefacta'' is also found.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, with the syncopated form ''malfactum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius sets ''malefacta'' against ''benefacta''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a wrong done.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – An offence, also as feminine ''malefacta''.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|misdeed]], [[m|en|wrongdoing]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # An [[m|en|injury]], a wrong done to someone.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|offence]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[maleficium]]

+ * [[benefactum]]

+ * [[malefaciō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}