mal cativo
Galician
Etymology
Attested since the 18th century. From mal (“sickness”) cativo (“little”), "[the] little sickness"
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈmal kɑˈtiβʊ]
Noun
mal cativo m (plural males cativos)
- (historical, pathology) an unidentified sickness (18th-19th centuries)
- 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:
- Teño moitos calafrios,
- á quentura ben detràs,
- receo, si hè ò mal catìbo,
- Dios che me'arrede detàl.
- I have many shivers
- the fever rises just next
- I fear it is the mal cativo,
- God keeps me away from that
- 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:
- (folklore) a nervous sickness, thought to be caused by evil eye or other malediction
- (pathology, folklore) ataxia
- (pathology, folklore) syphilis
Usage notes
It is always preceded by the definite article o (or any of its alternative forms) so as to differentiate it from un mal cativo, "a little sickness".
References
- “mal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
- “mal cativo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “mal cativo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.