The story
- Classical Latin · derived fromtollō
- Medieval Latin · derived frommalatolta
- Anglo-Norman · derived frommaltolt“unjust tax”
- Middle English · inherited frommaltode
- English todaymaletote
Inherited from Middle English maltode, from Anglo-Norman maltolt (“unjust tax”), from Medieval Latin malatolta, from mala (“evil”) + tolta (“tax”), the latter from tollīta (“raised”), used in Medieval Latin as past participle of Classical Latin tollō.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.