maltalent

M3A1L1T1A1L1E1N1T1
/mælˈtælənt/

noun

Ill will; malice, malevolence.

OriginMiddle English maltalent ← Anglo-Norman maltalent ← Middle French maltalent →
First used 14th–19th c.Scrabble 11
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Meanings

nounmaltalent (uncountable)
  1. obsoleteuncountableIll will; malice, malevolence.First known use 14th–19th c.

    So forth he vvent, / VVith heauy looke and lumpiſh pace, that plaine / In him bevvraid great grudge and maltalent; / His ſteed eke ſeemd t'apply his ſteps to his intent.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 61, page 461

Origin

  1. Middle Frenchmaltalent
  2. Anglo-Normanmaltalent
  3. Middle Englishmaltalent
  4. Englishmaltalent

From Middle English maltalent, from Anglo-Norman maltalent and Middle French maltalent, maltalant, from mal (“evil”) + talent (“disposition”).

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Middle French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

maltalent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maltalent

MLA

“maltalent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maltalent. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maltalent,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maltalent.

Source: maltalent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.