Where does “malevolence” come from?
Malevolence comes from Middle French malevolence, from Latin malevolentia (formed with the suffix -ia from Ancient Greek -ία), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "bad" or "evil."
malevolence (English): Hostile attitude or feeling; Behavior exhibiting...
Definitions
- Hostile attitude or feeling; Behavior exhibiting...
Ancestry of “malevolence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | malevolence | — |
| 2 | Latin | malevolentia | malevolence, hatred, dislike, envy |
| 3 | Latin | malevolēns | spiteful, malevolent |
| 4 | Latin | male | badly; wrongly; cruelly, wickedly |
| 5 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | apple tree |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |