Where does “malady” come from?
Malady comes from Middle English maladie, from Old French maladie, which combines Old French mal- with the suffix -ie from Latin -ia, itself from Ancient Greek -ία, ultimately traced to Proto-Indo-European -h₂.
malady (English): Any ailment or disease of the body; especially, a...
Definitions
- Any ailment or disease of the body; especially, a...
Ancestry of “malady”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | maladie | A malady, disease, or illness; that which makes... |
| 2 | Old French | maladie | sickness; illness |
| 3 | Old French | malade | ill, unwell, sick |
| 4 | Latin | male habitus | having a sickness; ill-kept, not in good... |
| 5 | Latin | male | badly; wrongly; cruelly, wickedly |
| 6 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | — |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |
Words derived from “malady”