malefactor

malefactor

English

Alternative forms

• malefactour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English malefactour, from Late Latin malefactor, from Latin malefaciō, from male (“evilly”) + factus (“made or done”), past participle of facio (“I make or do”).

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: măʹləfăk'tər, IPA^(key): /ˈmæləˌfæktɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

malefactor (plural malefactors)

1. A criminal or felon.
2. An evildoer.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:criminal
• See also Thesaurus:villain

Antonyms

• benefactor

Related terms

• maleficent

Translations

criminal — see criminal

felon — see felon

evildoer

Arabic: شِرِّير‎ (ar) m (širrīr) Belarusian: зламы́снік m (zlamýsnik), зламы́сніца f (zlamýsnica), ліхадзе́й m (lixadzjéj), ліхадзе́йка f (lixadzjéjka) Bulgarian: злосто́рник (bg) m (zlostórnik), злосто́рница f (zlostórnica), злоде́й (bg) m (zlodéj), злоде́йка f (zlodéjka) Chinese: Mandarin: 壞人／坏人 (zh) (huàirén), 惡人／恶人 (zh) (èrén) Esperanto: aĉfaranto m, malbonfaranto French: malfaiteur (fr) m, malfaitrice (fr) f German: Übeltäter (de) m, Übeltäterin (de) f, Malefaktor m Greek: Ancient: κακοῦργος m (kakoûrgos) Icelandic: illvirki (is) m Irish: bithiúnach m Italian: malfattore (it) m, malfattrice (it) f Japanese: 悪人 (ja) (あくにん, akunin, わろびと, warubito) Korean: 악인(惡人) (ko) (agin) Latin: malefactor m Persian: بدکار‎ (fa) (badkâr) Polish: złoczyńca (pl) m Portuguese: malfeitor (pt) m, malfeitora (pt) f Romanian: răufăcător (ro) m, răufăcătoare (ro) f Russian: злоумы́шленник (ru) m (zloumýšlennik), злоумы́шленница (ru) f (zloumýšlennica), злоде́й (ru) m (zlodéj), злоде́йка (ru) f (zlodéjka) Scottish Gaelic: eucoireach m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: зло̏твор m Roman: zlȍtvor (sh) m Spanish: malhechor (es) m, malhechora (es) f Ukrainian: зловми́сник m (zlovmýsnyk), зловми́сниця f (zlovmýsnycja), лиході́й m (lyxodíj), лиході́йка f (lyxodíjka)

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *maledfaktōr, related to malefactus (perfect passive participle of malefaciō), corresponding to male (“evilly”) + factus (“made or done”), past participle of facio (“I make or do”). Used in Old Latin by Plautus and then more commonly in Late Latin[1].

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ma.leˈfak.tor/, [mäɫ̪ɛˈfäkt̪ɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ma.leˈfak.tor/, [mäleˈfäkt̪or]

Noun

malefactor m (genitive malefactōris); third declension

1. wrongdoer, evildoer, malefactor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	malefactor	malefactōrēs
Genitive	malefactōris	malefactōrum
Dative	malefactōrī	malefactōribus
Accusative	malefactōrem	malefactōrēs
Ablative	malefactōre	malefactōribus
Vocative	malefactor	malefactōrēs

Antonyms

• benefactor

Descendants

• Asturian: malfechor
• French: malfaiteur
• Friulian: malfatôr
• Galician: malfeitor
• Italian: malfattore
• Old Catalan: malfaytor
• Portuguese: malfeitor
• Sicilian: malfatturi
• Spanish: malhechor
• → Catalan: malfactor
• → English: malefactor

References

• “malefactor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• malefactor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• malefactor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

1. http://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=2034313