maleficus

Latin

Etymology

Derived from male (“badly, wrongly”) +‎ -ficus (suffix denoting making or doing).

Pronunciation

Noun

maleficus m (genitive maleficī); second declension

  1. doer of wrong, evildoer, criminal (person)
  2. sorcerer, magician
    • (Can we date this quote?), S. Hieronymus, Commentarii [Commentaries]:
      Maleficos, quos vel veneficos possumus appellare, vel dæmonum phantasmatibus servientes."
      Sorcerors, whom we can call either wizards or [men] serving the phantasms of demons."

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative maleficus maleficī
Genitive maleficī maleficōrum
Dative maleficō maleficīs
Accusative maleficum maleficōs
Ablative maleficō maleficīs
Vocative malefice maleficī

Adjective

maleficus (feminine malefica, neuter maleficum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. wicked, vicious
  2. criminal

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative maleficus malefica maleficum maleficī maleficae malefica
Genitive maleficī maleficae maleficī maleficōrum maleficārum maleficōrum
Dative maleficō maleficō maleficīs
Accusative maleficum maleficam maleficum maleficōs maleficās malefica
Ablative maleficō maleficā maleficō maleficīs
Vocative malefice malefica maleficum maleficī maleficae malefica

Descendants
  • → Catalan: malèfic
  • → French: maléfique
  • → German: malefiz
  • → Italian: malefico
  • → Piedmontese: maléfich
  • → Portuguese: maléfico
  • → Spanish: maléfico
  • → Romanian: malefic
  • →⇒ English: maleficent

References
  • “maleficus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “maleficus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • maleficus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • maleficus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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