maleficus Latin · revision 33755

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus|origins=la male, la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [maˈɫɛ.fɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [maˈlɛː.fi.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''maleficus''' ''m'' (genitive maleficī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Also ''malificus'', a spelling the TLL compares with ''magnificus''.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|male|-ficus|t1=badly|t2=doing]], belonging with [[m|la|malefaciō|t=to do wrong]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Quintilian cites it as a compound that grew together out of two bodies.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Livius Andronicus has it first, in the phrase ''malefica vacerra'', “wicked blockhead”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is evil-doing, wicked or criminal: Cicero has a man wicked and unjust by nature, and wicked and criminal men.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Suetonius has the superlative ''maleficentissimus''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Of things it is harmful, as the many harmful kinds of animals in Sallust.^(OLD 2012) Apuleius uses it of black magic, and Tacitus has an early instance of that use.^(OLD 2012)^(Niermeyer 1976) As a masculine noun it is a wrongdoer or criminal, and in Late Latin a sorcerer.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Medieval Latin keeps ''maleficus'' “sorcerer” and ''malefica'' “sorceress”.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|maleficent]] was formed from it in the 1670s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus, “wicked blockhead”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of wicked men.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust, of harmful animals.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius, of black magic.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – A sorcerer; a sorceress.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ * 1670s – English [[m|en|maleficent]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Evil-doing, [[m|en|wicked]], [[m|en|criminal]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Harmful, [[m|en|noxious]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of black magic, [[m|en|magical]].^(OLD 2012)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A wrongdoer, criminal.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Late and Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|sorcerer]];^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976) ''(feminine, malefica)'' a sorceress.^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[malefica]]

+ * [[maleficium]]

+ * [[maleficō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[malefaciō]]

+ * [[male]]

+ * [[beneficus]]

+ * [[en|maleficent]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}