Word of the Day

: October 27, 2012

malison

noun MAL-uh-sun

What It Means

: curse, malediction

malison in Context

"When I see him again he shall have the rough side of my tongue and my malison besides." - From Henry Gilbert's 1912 book Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood

"To add insult to injury he preferred to launch a malison of hatred and execration...." -From a letter by Raymond Ellis to the Belfast Telegraph, August 24, 2001

Did You Know?

"Malison" is still hanging on after being around for eight centuries, but it appears to have suffered the curse of time. Though "malison" still sees occasional use, it is no longer as common as it was in days of yore. Rather, it has been largely supplanted by its younger cousin "malediction." "Malison" and "malediction" are both descendants of the Late Latin word "maledictio," itself from "maledicere," meaning "to curse." "Maledicere" in turn traces back to Latin "male," meaning "badly," and "dicere," meaning "to speak or say."