maltalent

maltalent

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman maltalent, Middle French maltalent, maltalant, from mal (“evil”) + talent (“disposition”).

Noun

maltalent (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Ill will; malice, malevolence. [14th-19th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:

     So forth he went / With heavy look and lumpish pace, that plaine / In him bewraid great grudge and maltalent […]

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Middle French

Etymology

Old French mautalant.

Noun

maltalent m (plural maltalens)

1. evil intention(s)

Descendants

• English: maltalent (borrowed)

References

• maltalent on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)