ma·lev·o·lence
Audio Help [muh-lev-uh-luh
ns] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [muh-lev-uh-luh
ns] Pronunciation Key –noun
| the quality, state, or feeling of being malevolent; ill will; malice; hatred. |
[Origin: 1425–75; < L malevolentia (see malevolent, -ence); r. late ME malivolence < MF < L as above
]
] —Synonyms maliciousness, spite, spitefulness, grudge, venom. Malevolence, malignity, rancor suggest the wishing of harm to others. Malevolence is a smoldering ill will: a vindictive malevolence in her expression. Malignity is a deep-seated and virulent disposition to injure; it is more dangerous than malevolence, because it is not only more completely concealed but it often instigates harmful acts: The malignity of his nature was shocking. Rancor is a lasting, corrosive, and implacable hatred and resentment.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
malevolence
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| ma·lev·o·lence
Audio Help (mə-lěv'ə-ləns) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English, from Old French malivolence, from Latin malevolentia, from malevolēns, malevolent-, malevolent : male, badly; see mel-3 in Indo-European roots + volēns, present participle of velle, to want; see wel-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
malevolence
c.1489, from O.Fr. malevolence, from L. malevolentia, from malevolentem (nom. malevolens) "malevolent," from male "badly" + volentem (nom. volens), prp. of velle "to wish."
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| malevolence | |
noun | |
| 1. | wishing evil to others [ant: benevolence] |
| 2. | the quality of threatening evil |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Malevolence
Ma*lev"o*lence\, n. [L. malevolentia. See Malevolent.] The quality or state of being malevolent; evil disposition toward another; inclination to injure others; ill will. See Synonym of Malice.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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