malady

Meanings

1. 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. 2
   noun

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

   Loneliness has become a common malady of modern city life.

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.

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