malady

B2 Topic:Health & Medicine

US /ˈmæl.ə.di/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like melody /ɛ/ vs /æ/

Freq #35978

Meanings

1

noun
An illness or disease, especially one that lasts a long time.

The old man suffered from a malady that no doctor could cure.
2

noun
A serious problem or unhealthy condition in society or the mind.

Loneliness has become a common malady of modern city life.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an illness or disease,... illness ailment

More disease disorder distemper sickness

Word family

Forms maladies

Derived forms maladious

Simplified etymology

Malady entered English in the Middle English period and derives from Latin male ‘ill’ and habitus ‘having as a condition’.

Etymology

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.

*mel- Proto-Indo-European maladie Middle English male habitus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Health & Medicine

External links

# malady

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈmæl.ə.di/
**Frequency rank:** 35978

## Meanings
1. An illness or disease, especially one that lasts a long time.
2. A serious problem or unhealthy condition in society or the mind.

## Examples
- The old man suffered from a malady that no doctor could cure.
- Loneliness has become a common malady of modern city life.

## Synonyms
- ailment
- disease
- disorder
- distemper
- illness
- sickness

## Derived Forms
- maladious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *mel-
- Root: maladie
- Root: male habitus

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Malady comes 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. In present-day English its meanings include an illness or disease, especially one that lasts a long time and a serious problem or unhealthy condition in society or the mind. The historical chain runs through *mel- (Proto-Indo-European), maladie (Middle English), maladie (Old French), and male habitus (Latin). Related and derived forms include maladious.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine

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