Where does “malevolence” come from?
malevolence (Middle French) comes from Latin malevolentia, 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 “malevolence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | malevolentia | malevolence, hatred, dislike, envy |
| 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 |