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Latin

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Etymology

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From malus (bad) +‎ fātum (fate) +‎ -ius; literally, “ill-fated”. Compare the name Bonifātius.

Adjective

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malifātius (feminine malifātia, neuter malifātium); first/second-declension adjective (Late Latin)

  1. unfortunate
    • 4th c. CE, Epigraph from the Coemeterium Maius[1] :
      VRBICE ORFANE / ET MALIFATIE / Q. VIX. ANN. XXII. / IN PACE
      For the orphaned and unfortunate Urbica, who died at the age of twenty-two. [May she rest] in peace.[2]

Usage notes

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Attested in French from ca. 1050 (Vie de saint Alexis)[3] and Occitan from the 12th century (works of Bernart de Ventadorn).[4]

Declension

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First/second-declension adjective.

Descendants

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(Shifted to the sense of 'bad' and 'evil'.)

References

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  1. ^ https://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/37493
  2. ^ Haerle Philipp. 1955. Captivus, cattivo, chetif: Zur Einwirkung des Christentums auf die Terminologie der Moralbegriffe. Bern: Francke. Page 90.
  3. ^ mauvais”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
  4. ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “malifatius”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 6/1: Mabile–Mephitis, page 95