malign (adj.)

early 14c., of things or behaviors, "wicked, sinful;" mid-15c., of persons, "having an evil disposition toward others, harboring violent hatred," from Old French maligne "having an evil nature," from Latin malignus "wicked, bad-natured," from male "badly" (see mal-) + -gnus "born," from gignere "to bear, beget," from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget."

also from early 14c.

malign (v.)

"to slander, speak evil of, defame," mid-15c., malignen (originally with against), from Old French malignier "to plot, deceive, pervert" and directly from Late Latin malignare "to do maliciously," from malignus "wicked, bad-natured, mean, unkind" (see malign (adj.)). Related: Maligned; maligning.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to malign

maligner (n.)

early 15c., malignour, "one who traduces or defames another," from Old French malignor, agent noun from malignier (see malign (v.)).

*gene-

*genə-, also *gen-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal groups.

It forms all or part of: Antigone; autogenous; benign; cognate; congener; congenial; congenital; connate; cosmogony; cryogenic; degenerate; engender; engine; epigone; eugenics; -gen; gendarme; gender; gene; genealogy; general; generate; generation; generic; generous; genesis; -genesis; genial; -genic; genital; genitive; genius; genocide; genotype; genre; gens; gent; genteel; gentile; gentle; gentry; genuine; genus; -geny; germ; german (adj.) "of the same parents or grandparents;" germane; germinal; germinate; germination; gingerly; gonad; gono-; gonorrhea; heterogeneous; homogeneous; homogenize; homogenous; impregnate; indigenous; ingenious; ingenuous; innate; jaunty; kermes; kin; kindergarten; kindred; king; kind (n.) "class, sort, variety;" kind (adj.) "friendly, deliberately doing good to others;" Kriss Kringle; malign; miscegenation; nada; naive; nascent; natal; Natalie; nation; native; nature; nee; neonate; Noel; oncogene; ontogeny; photogenic; phylogeny; pregnant (adj.1) "with child;" primogenitor; primogeniture; progenitor; progeny; puisne; puny; renaissance; theogony; wunderkind.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit janati "begets, bears," janah "offspring, child, person," janman- "birth, origin," jatah "born;" Avestan zizanenti "they bear;" Greek gignesthai "to become, happen," genos "race, kind," gonos "birth, offspring, stock;" Latin gignere "to beget," gnasci "to be born," genus (genitive generis) "race, stock, kind; family, birth, descent, origin," genius "procreative divinity, inborn tutelary spirit, innate quality," ingenium "inborn character," possibly germen "shoot, bud, embryo, germ;" Lithuanian gentis "kinsmen;" Gothic kuni "race;" Old English cennan "beget, create," gecynd "kind, nature, race;" Old High German kind "child;" Old Irish ro-genar "I was born;" Welsh geni "to be born;" Armenian cnanim "I bear, I am born."

mal-

*mel-

See all related words (4) >

Trends of malign

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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benign

"of a kind disposition; gracious; kind; benignant; favorable," early 14c., from Old French benigne "kind, benign, merciful, gracious" (12c., Modern French bénin, fem. bénigne), from Latin benignus "kindly, kindhearted, friendly, generous," literally "well born," from bene "well"

traduce

1530s, "alter, change over, transport," from Latin traducere "change over, convert," also "lead in parade, make a show of, dishonor, disgrace," originally "lead along or across, bring through, transfer" (source also of French traduire, Spanish traducir, Italian tradurre), from tr

evil

Old English yfel (Kentish evel) "bad, vicious, ill, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz (source also of Old Saxon ubil, Old Frisian and Middle Dutch evel, Dutch euvel, Old High German ubil, German übel, Gothic ubils), from PIE *upelo-, from root *wap- "bad, evil" (source also of

malignant

As an adjective, Middle English used simple malign (early 14c.), also malignous "poisonous, noxious."...

persecution

Psychological persecution complex in reference to an irrational sense of being victimized by malign forces as a feature of...

envy

Jealousy is the malign feeling which is often had toward a rival, or possible rival, for the possession of that which we...

defame

"speak evil of, maliciously speak or write what injures the reputation of," c. 1300, from Old French defamer (13c., Modern French diffamer), from Medieval Latin defamare, from Latin diffamare "to spread abroad by ill report, make a scandal of," from dis-, here probably suggestive

educrat

"officer, administrator, or other bureaucrat in a school system," 1968, usually pejorative, "a word that suggests overpaid, underworked and generally useless paper-pushers shielded by a cushion of taxpayer-funded job security" ["Houston Chronicle," Jan. 26, 2017]. The first eleme

slander

late 13c., sclaundre, "state of impaired reputation; disgrace or dishonor;" c. 1300, "a false tale or report spread maliciously; the fabrication and dissemination of false tales to discredit someone," from Anglo-French esclaundre, Old French esclandre "scandalous statement," alte

smirch

late 15c., smorchen, "to discolor, to make dirty" (also compare bismorched, mid-15c.), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps (OED) from Old French esmorcher "to torture," which is perhaps also "befoul, stain," from es- "out" (see ex-) + morcher "to bite," from Latin morsus, past pa

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updated on November 09, 2018

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Dictionary entries near malign

malic

malice

malicious

maliciously

maliciousness

malign

malignancy

malignant

maligner

malignity

malinger