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 (“to make or do”).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æktə(ɹ)

Noun

malefactor (plural malefactors)

1. A criminal or felon.
2. An evildoer.
   • 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Last Night”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 80:

     ‘Pull yourself together, Bradshaw,’ said the lawyer. ‘This suspense, I know, is telling upon all of you; but it is now our intention to make an end of it. Poole, here, and I are going to force our way into the cabinet. If all is well, my shoulders are broad enough to bear the blame. Meanwhile, lest anything should really be amiss, or any malefactor seek to escape by the back, you and the boy must go round the corner with a pair of good sticks, and take your post at the laboratory door.

   • 2013, Kazerad, Katia: Try a few more things, in: Prequel -or- Making a Cat Cry: The Adventure (webcomic), April 23 2013

     Though your unseen malefactor’s actions may give the impression of confidence… Vaermina suspects he is terrified his plan will go astray.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

• benefactor

Derived terms

• malefactee
• malefactress

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)
• Catalan: malfactor (ca)
• 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 Greek: 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
• Macedonian: зло́сторник m (zlóstornik), зло́чинец m (zlóčinec)
• Mauritian Creole: malfeter
• 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

  Latin: zlȍtvor (sh) m

• Spanish: malhechor (es) m, malhechora (es) f, malfechor m (disused), facineroso (es) m, maleante (es) m or f
• Ukrainian: зловми́сник m (zlovmýsnyk), зловми́сниця f (zlovmýsnycja), лиході́й m (lyxodíj), лиході́йка f (lyxodíjka)

Latin

Etymology

From malefaciō +‎ -tor, corresponding to male (“evilly”) + factor (“maker”). Used in Old Latin by Plautus and then more commonly in Late Latin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ma.ɫɛˈfak.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ma.leˈfak.tor]

Noun

malefactor m (genitive malefactōris); third declension

1. wrongdoer, evildoer, malefactor, villain

   Synonym: maleficiārius

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	malefactor	malefactōrēs
genitive	malefactōris	malefactōrum
dative	malefactōrī	malefactōribus
accusative	malefactōrem	malefactōrēs
ablative	malefactōre	malefactōribus
vocative	malefactor	malefactōrēs

Antonyms

• benefactor

Descendants

• French: malfaiteur
• Friulian: malfatôr
• Galician: malfeitor
• Italian: malfattore
• Old Catalan: malfaytor
• Old Leonese: malfechor
  • Asturian: malfechor
• 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, 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.