malefice

See also: maléfice

English

Etymology

From Latin maleficium: compare French maléfice. See malefactor.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmæləfɪs/

Noun

malefice (plural malefices)

  1. (archaic) An evil deed; evilness; enchantment or sorcery.
    • 1912, Clark Ashton Smith, The Medusa of the Skies:
      On hills like tumuli, and waters mute,
      A whiteness steals as of a world made still
      When reptant Death at last rears absolute—
      An earth now frozen by malefice of eyes
      Aeonian dooms and realm-deep rigors fill—
      The gaze of that Medusa of the skies

Derived terms

References

Latin

Adjective

malefice

  1. vocative masculine singular of maleficus

References

  • malefice”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • malefice in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.