Etymograph

English

malevolence

Malevolence comes from Latin malevolēns ‘malevolent’, from volēns ‘wishing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- ‘to choose, to want’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₁-1‘to choose, to want’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welō1‘to want, will’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolō2‘to wish’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolēns3‘wishing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalevolēns3‘malevolent’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalevolentia3
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600malevolence3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2023malevolence3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin volo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin volens
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English malevolence
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Murtada Elfadl: “Esai Morales appears as the enforcer for “the entity‘’…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₁-Wiktionary, Latin volo‘to choose, to want’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welōWiktionary, Latin volo‘to want, will’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolōWiktionary, Latin volens‘to wish’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolēnsWiktionary, English malevolence‘wishing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalevolēnsWiktionary, English malevolence‘malevolent’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalevolentiaWiktionary, English malevolence
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600malevolenceWiktionary, English malevolence
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2023malevolenceWiktionary, English malevolence. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Murtada Elfadl: “Esai Morales appears as the enforcer for “the entity‘’…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- ‘to choose, to want’

will, well, volunteer, benevolent, voluptuous, wale, 12 more

through Latin volō ‘to wish’

volatile, volition, 10 more

through Latin volēns ‘wishing’

voluntary, 1 more

Today it means

noun Hostile attitude or feeling.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “malevolence”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin volo, Latin volens. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- / malevolence

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