Meanings
- archaicuncountableEvil intent, bad intention; fraud, deceit.
But the chaſte damzell, that had neuer priefe / Of ſuch malengine and fine forgerye, / Did eaſely beleeue her ſtrong extremitye.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 4061 more example
[…]for when the Protectors Brother, Lord Sudley, the Admirall through private malice and mal-engine was to lose his life, no man could bee found fitter than Bishop Latimer[…]to divulge in his Sermon the forged Accusations laid to his charge[…].
1641 May, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Causes that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC, page 11
Origin
- Middle Frenchmal engin
- Anglo-Normanmal engin
- Middle Englishmale engyn
- Englishmalengine
From Middle English male engyn, male engyne, from Anglo-Norman mal engin, Middle French mal engin, from mal (“bad, evil”) + engin (“ruse; trickery; deception”).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
malengine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malengine
“malengine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malengine. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “malengine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malengine.
Source: malengine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.