"evil (noun)" in seven languages
Meaningevil (noun)
Spanish
mal
/mal/
masc.inherited
Also the adverb 'badly' and the short form of malo.
French
mal
/mal/
masc.inherited
plural: maux
Also 'pain' (j'ai mal) and the adverb 'badly'.
Italian
male
/ˈmale/
masc.inherited
Also 'pain' (mi fa male) and the adverb 'badly'.
Portuguese
mal
/maw/
masc.inherited
Romanian
rău
/rəw/
neut.other source · Latin REUM 'guilty, accused'
Bine și rău 'good and evil': Romanian lost MALUM.
Catalan
mal
/mal/
masc.inherited
English
evil
/ˈivəl/
native English · Old English yfel
English → Italianevil (noun)maleNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: malice, malign, malady, malevolent.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
MALUM‘evil, misfortune’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin's neuter noun MALUM 'a bad thing' covers evil, harm and pain in the sisters; French plural maux shows the same l → u as chevaux.
English relatives: malice, malign, malady, malevolent
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esla lucha entre el bien y el mal
- frla lutte entre le bien et le mal
- itla lotta tra il bene e il male
- pta luta entre o bem e o mal
- rolupta dintre bine și rău
- cala lluita entre el bé i el mal
- enthe struggle between good and evil
More words from the same Latin
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