Where does “maléfique” come from?
maléfique (French) comes from Latin maleficus, from Latin male, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.
maléfique (French): maleficent, malevolent
Ancestry of “maléfique”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | maleficus | wicked, vicious; criminal |
| 2 | Latin | male | badly; wrongly; cruelly, wickedly |
| 3 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |