malus Latin · revision 769

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈma.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmaː.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malus''' (feminine mala, neuter malum, comparative peior, superlative pessimus, adverb male); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*malo-]], usually traced to [[ine-pro|*mol-o-|t=bad]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) This etymology goes back to Ernout and Meillet; de Vaan finds it semantically fine but uncertain, since it rests on a set of largely isolated words in different branches.^(de Vaan 2008) Pokorny instead groups it with words for “small”, such as [[cu|малъ|tr=malŭ|t=small]] and [[got|𐍃𐌼𐌰𐌻𐍃|tr=smals]], taking the original sense to be “slight, worthless”.^(Pokorny 1959)^(Köbler 2010) Lewis and Short compared [[grc|μέλας|tr=mélas|t=black]], a link that has since lost support.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Within Italic it is matched by [[osc|mallom]] and [[m|osc|mallud|t=bad, evil]], which may also be borrowings from Latin.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Further comparisons include [[sga|mell|t=destruction]], [[grc|μέλεος|tr=méleos|t=idle; unhappy]], [[xcl|մեղ|tr=meł|t=sin]] and [[lt|mẽlas|t=lie]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from the Duenos inscription and Livius Andronicus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008) and Köbler places the Duenos inscription between the 7th and the late 3rd century BC.^(Köbler 2010) In Plautus it already has its main sense of something [[m|en|unpleasant]] or painful, as in the curse ''abi in malum cruciatum'' “go and be tortured”.^(OLD 2012)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start it covered both what is unpleasant or harmful and what is morally [[m|en|wicked]], and it served as the general opposite of [[bonus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Set phrases fixed several of these uses: ''mala res'' “trouble”, ''mala aetas'' “old age”, ''dolus malus'' “deliberate fraud” in law, and ''mala fides'' “bad faith”.^(OLD 2012) Applied to things, it meant poor of its kind or unsuccessful, as of a lost battle, and of birth it meant low.^(OLD 2012)

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+ In Ecclesiastical Latin the neuter was used as a noun for evil,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval texts ''malus'' as a masculine noun named the Devil.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 7th–3rd century BC – It appears in the Duenos inscription.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables speak of ''dolus malus'' and of a ''malum carmen'', a harmful spell.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it widely of unpleasant things and of wicked people.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''malus poeta'' and ''malus civis'' for a bad poet and a bad citizen.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – As a noun it names the Devil.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|unpleasant|alt=Unpleasant]], distressing, painful.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Unpleasant to the senses: ugly, foul-smelling, bad-tasting.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|wicked|alt=Wicked]], [[m|en|evil]], [[m|en|mischievous]] (of people, their character and actions).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Harmful, [[m|en|noxious]], as of poisonous herbs or spells.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Unkind, hostile, unfavourable; of words, insulting.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (of times, news, weather, battles) Unfavourable, unlucky, unsuccessful.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Bad of its kind, poor; of birth, low.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, as a noun)'' The [[m|en|devil|alt=Devil]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maledicāx]]

+ * [[maledīcō]]

+ * [[malefaber]]

+ * [[malefaciō]]

+ * [[maleficiō]]

+ * [[maleficus]]

+ * [[malefio]]

+ * [[malesuādus]]

+ * [[maletractatio]]

+ * [[malevolēns]]

+ * [[malevolus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The comparative and superlative come from other stems: ''[[peior]]'', ''[[pessimus]]''.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) It is distinct from ''mālus'' with a long vowel, which means both “apple tree” and “mast”.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}