Etymology

malady

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Today it means: Any ailment or disease of the body; especially, a lingering or deep-seated disorder. Full definition →

Middle English maladie ← Old French maladie ← Latin male habitus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frommale habitus“ill-kept, not in good condition”
  2. Old French · derived frommaladie“sickness, illness, disease”
  3. Middle English · inherited frommaladie
  4. English todaymalady

From Middle English maladie, from Old French maladie (“sickness, illness, disease”), from malade (“ill, sick”), from Latin male habitus (“ill-kept, not in good condition”), 1st century AD. See also malice and habit.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.