Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “malefactor” come from?

Malefactor comes from Late Latin malefactor, from Latin malefacio, derived from Latin facio meaning "to do," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁-.

malefactor (English): A criminal or felon; An evildoer

Definitions

  1. A criminal or felon; An evildoer

Ancestry of “malefactor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Late Latinmalefactorwrongdoer, evildoer, malefactor
2Latinmalefaciō—
3Latinfaciō—
4Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
5Latin-tōrius—
6Latin-tor-er
7Proto-Italic-tōr—
8Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
9Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “malefactor”

  • malefactress
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →