mal cativo

Attested since the 18th century. From mal (“sickness”) cativo (“little”), "[the] little sickness"

• IPA^(key): [ˈmal kɑˈtiβʊ]

mal cativo m (plural males cativos)

1. (historical, pathology) an unidentified sickness (18th-19th centuries)
   • 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:

     Teño moitos calafrios,
     á quentura ben detràs,
     receo, si hè ò mal catìbo,
     Dios che me'arrede detàl.

     I have many shivers
     the fever rises just next
     I fear it is the mal cativo,
     God keeps me away from that

2. (folklore) a nervous sickness, thought to be caused by evil eye or other malediction
   1. (pathology, folklore) ataxia
   2. (pathology, folklore) syphilis

It is always preceded by the definite article o (or any of its alternative forms) so as to differentiate it from un mal cativo, "a little sickness".

• “mal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “mal cativo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “mal cativo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.