word roots mal = bad words on the vine: lesson 4
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• mal- (Latin: bad, badly, harsh, wrong; ill; evil; abnormal, defective; used primarily as a prefix).
mal → bad, evil
• The Latin root word mal means “bad” or “evil.” This root is the word origin of many English vocabulary words, including malformed, maltreat, and malice. You can recall that mal means “bad” through malfunction, or a “badly” working part, and that it means “evil” through malice, or intentional “evil” done to another.
malevolent, adj. /məˈlevələnt/• having bad feelings toward someone or
something; spite, hatred • wishing harm to others; malicious
There is the risk that genetic selection may be used in an unscrupulous and potentially malevolent way. Failure made him malevolent toward those who were successful."
malevolent, adj. /məˈlevələnt/• having bad feelings toward someone or
something; spite, hatred • wishing harm to others; malicious
malapropism, n. \ˈma-lə-ˌprä-ˌpi-zəm\
• a word used the wrong way, in place of a word with a similar sound; usually resulting in a nonsensical or humorous result
Malapropisms are often the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals.
Origin• Although William Shakespeare had used the device for comic effect,
the term derives from Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s character Mrs. Malaprop (noted for her misuse of words) in his play The Rivals (1775). Her name is taken from the term malapropos (French: “inappropriate”). Thinking of the geography of contiguous countries, she spoke of the “geometry” of “contagious countries,” and hoped that her daughter might “reprehend” the true meaning of what she is
• Former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley referred to a tandem bicycle as a "tantrum bicycle" and made mention of "Alcoholics Unanimous" (Alcoholics Anonymous).
• Oliver Hardy is suffering a nervous "shakedown" (rather than "breakdown"), and calls the Exalted Ruler of their group the "exhausted ruler"
• “Illiterate him quite from your memory" (instead of 'obliterate')', and "she's as headstrong as an allegory" (instead of alligator).
• "Texas has a lot of electrical votes.” (rather than "electoral votes“)
malicious, adj. /məˈliSHəs/ • desiring harm to someone or something else;
prone to do ‘evil’
A lawyer for Miami Dolphins player Jonathan Martin, who was allegedly bullied by teammate Richie Incognito, says his client endured a "malicious physical attack" in addition to harassment from unnamed teammates that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing.
malodorous, adj. /malˈōdərəs/
• bad-smelling
The cellar will need to be cleared of several malodorous, maggot-infested piles of garbage.
malady, n. \ˈma-lə-dē\
• a bad health condition; a disease
Descriptions of a malady from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries relate the horror of its effects: the terrible sores and swellings, often extending into the mouth and throat, and leaving the body covered with scabs that turned from red to black; severe fever; pain in the bones so intense that patients "screamed day and night without respite, envying the dead themselves."
malaria, n. \mə-ˈler-ē-ə\
• a human disease caused by sporozoan parasites originally thought to be caused by ‘bad’ air, actually spread by mosquitoes
The world’s first malaria vaccine could be available within the next 18 months, marking a major advance in efforts to eradicate a disease that kills more than half a million people, many of them children, every year.
malediction, n. \ˌma-lə-ˈdik-shən\
• bad speech; a curse
The two women began casting false charges and heaping maledictions upon one another.
malefactor, n. /ˈma-lə-ˌfak-tər/ • one who does wrong or ‘evil’ things; villain
I visited the condemned malefactors in Newgate, and was locked in by the turnkey, not with them, but in the yard. However, I stood upon a bench, and they climbed up to the windows of their cells; so that all could hear my exhortation and prayer. .
John Wesley was an 18th century Anglican evangelist.
malignant, adj. /mə-ˈlig-nənt/
• bad or harmful, producing death• of a “bad” tumor or of someone disposed to
do “evil”--a highly malignant form of cancer
--a powerful and malignant influence
malpractice, n. \ˌmal-ˈprak-təs\ • performing one’s duty in a bad or wrong way
Doctors need to have malpractice insurance to protect themselves against lawsuits.
More Terms• malfunction: when something is functioning
‘badly’• malformed: ‘badly’ shaped• malnutrition: a condition of ‘bad’ nutrition• dismal: etymologically of an ‘evil’ day• maleficent: a tendency to do ‘evil’ deeds