Where does “malevolent” come from?
malevolent (Middle English) comes from Old French malivolent, from Latin malevolēns, from Latin male, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.
Ancestry of “malevolent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | malivolent | — |
| 2 | Latin | malevolēns | spiteful, malevolent |
| 3 | Latin | male | badly; wrongly; cruelly, wickedly |
| 4 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | apple tree |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |