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Malediction, which at one time could also refer to slander or to the condition of being reviled or slandered, derives (via Middle English and Late Latin) from the Latin verb maledicere, meaning "to speak evil of" or "to curse." "Maledicere," in turn, was formed by combining the Latin words male, meaning "badly," and "dicere," "to speak" or "to say." You may recognize both of those component parts, as each has made a significant contribution to the English language. "Male" is the ancestor of such words as "malady," "malevolent," and "malign"; "dicere" gives us "contradict," "dictate," "diction," "edict" and "prediction," just to name a few.

Examples of malediction in a Sentence

the two old women began casting aspersions and heaping maledictions upon one another

Recent Examples on the Web Despite this Sisyphean malediction, with each call for new proposals, the community still tries to push its boulder back to the mountaintop. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 2 June 2021 But perhaps the malediction presently heaped upon them will give them pause in the future. — Winston Groom, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2018 Their language seemed perfectly suited for songs and maledictions. — Linda Kinstler, Longreads, 27 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'malediction.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.