Part 6

Mal"a*co*derm (?), n. [Gr. &?; soft + &?; skin.] (Zoöl.) One of a tribe of beetles (Malacodermata), with a soft and flexible body, as the fireflies.

Mal"a*co*lite (?), n. [Gr. &?; soft + -lite.] (Min.) A variety of pyroxene.

Mal`a*col"o*gist (?), n. One versed in the science of malacology.

Mal`a*col"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; soft + -logy: cf. F. malacologie.] The science which relates to the structure and habits of mollusks.

||Mal`a*cop"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; soft + -poda.] (Zoöl.) A ||class of air-breathing Arthropoda; -- called also Protracheata, and ||Onychophora.

They somewhat resemble myriapods, and have from seventeen to thirty-three pairs of short, imperfectly jointed legs, two pairs of simple jaws, and a pair of antennæ. The trancheæ are connected with numerous spiracles scattered over the surface of the body. Peripatus is the only known genus. See Peripatus.

Mal`a*cop`ter*yg"i*an (?), n. [Cf. F. malacoptérygien.] (Zoöl.) One of the Malacopterygii.

||Mal`a*cop`te*ryg"i*i (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; soft + &?; wing, ||fin, fr. &?; feather.] (Zoöl.) An order of fishes in which the fin ||rays, except the anterior ray of the pectoral and dorsal fins, are ||closely jointed, and not spiny. It includes the carp, pike, salmon, ||shad, etc. Called also Malacopteri.

Mal`a*cop`ter*yg"i*ous (?), a. (Zoöl.) Belonging to the Malacopterygii.

Mal`a*cos"te*on (?), n. [NL., Gr. fr. &?; soft + &?; bone.] (Med.) A peculiar disease of the bones, in consequence of which they become softened and capable of being bent without breaking.

Mal`a*cos"to*mous (?), a. [Gr. &?; soft + &?; mouth.] (Zoöl.) Having soft jaws without teeth, as certain fishes.

||Mal`a*cos"tra*ca (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. &?; soft + &?; shell of a ||testacean.] (Zoöl.) A subclass of Crustacea, including Arthrostraca ||and Thoracostraca, or all those higher than the Entomostraca.

Mal`a*cos"tra*can (?), n. (Zoöl.) One of the Malacostraca.

Mal`a*cos`tra*col"o*gy (?), n. [Malacostracan + -logy.] That branch of zoölogical science which relates to the crustaceans; -- called also carcinology.

Mal`a*cos"tra*cous (?), a. (Zoöl.) Belonging to the Malacostraca.

Mal`a*co*toon" (?), n. (Bot.) See Melocoton.

||Mal`a*co*zo"a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; soft + zo^,on an animal.] ||(Zoöl.) An extensive group of Invertebrata, including the Mollusca, ||Brachiopoda, and Bryozoa. Called also Malacozoaria.

Mal`a*co*zo"ic (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Malacozoa.

Mal`ad*dress" (?), n. [Mal- + address.] Bad address; an awkward, tactless, or offensive way of accosting one or talking with one. W. D. Howells.

Mal`ad*just"ment (?), n. [Mal- + adjustment.] A bad adjustment.

Mal`ad*min`is*tra"tion (?), n. [Mal- + administration.] Bad administration; bad management of any business, especially of public affairs. [Written also maleadministration.]

Mal`a*droit" (?), a. [F. See Malice, and Adroit.] Of a quality opposed to adroitness; clumsy; awkward; unskillful. -- Mal"a*droit`ly, adv. -- Mal`a*droit"ness, n.

Mal"a*dy (?), n.; pl. Maladies (#). [F. maladie, fr. malade ill, sick, OF. also, malabde, fr. L. male habitus, i. e., ill-kept, not in good condition. See Malice, and Habit.] 1. Any disease of the human body; a distemper, disorder, or indisposition, proceeding from impaired, defective, or morbid organic functions; especially, a lingering or deep-seated disorder.

The maladies of the body may prove medicines to the mind.

Buckminster.

2. A moral or mental defect or disorder.

Love's a malady without a cure.

Dryden.

Syn. -- Disorder; distemper; sickness; ailment; disease; illness. See Disease.

Mal"a*ga (?), n. A city and a province of Spain, on the Mediterranean. Hence, Malaga grapes, Malaga raisins, Malaga wines.

||Mal`a*gash" (?), n. Same as Malagasy.

Mal`a*gas"y (?), n. sing. & pl. A native or natives of Madagascar; also (sing.), the language.

||Ma`laise" (?), n. [F., fr. mal ill + aise ease.] (Med.) An indefinite ||feeling of uneasiness, or of being sick or ill at ease.

Ma*lam"ate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of malamic acid.

||Ma*lam"bo (?), n. [Pg.] A yellowish aromatic bark, used in medicine ||and perfumery, said to be from the South American shrub Croton ||Malambo.

Mal`am*eth"ane (?), n. [Malamic + ethane.] (Chem.) A white crystalline substance forming the ethyl salt of malamic acid.

Ma*lam"ic (?), a. [Malic + amic.] (Chem.) Of or designating an acid intermediate between malic acid and malamide, and known only by its salts.

Ma*lam"ide (?), n. [Malic + amide.] (Chem.) The acid amide derived from malic acid, as a white crystalline substance metameric with asparagine.

Mal"an*ders (?), n. pl. [F. malandres, fr. L. malandria blisters or pustules on the neck, especially in horses.] (Far.) A scurfy eruption in the bend of the knee of the fore leg of a horse. See Sallenders. [Written also mallenders.]

Mal"a*pert (?), a. [OF. malapert unskillful, ill-taught, ill-bred; mal ill + apert open, adroit, intelligent, L. apertus, p. p. of aperire to open. See Malice, and Aperient.] Bold; forward; impudent; saucy; pert. Shak. -- n. A malapert person.

Are you growing malapert! Will you force me to make use of my authority ?

Dryden.

-- Mal"a*pert`ly, adv. -- Mal"a*pert`ness, n.

Mal"a*prop*ism (?), n. [From Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan's drama, " The Rivals," who makes amusing blunders in her use of words. See Malapropos.] A grotesque misuse of a word; a word so used.

Mal*ap"ro*pos` (?), a. & adv. [F. mal à propos; mal evil + à propos to the purpose.] Unseasonable or unseasonably; unsuitable or unsuitably.

||Mal*ap`te*ru"rus (ml*p`t*r"rs), n. [NL., from Gr. malako`s soft + ||ptero`n wing + o'yra` tail.] (Zoöl.) A genus of African siluroid ||fishes, including the electric catfishes. See Electric cat, under ||Electric.

Ma"lar (?), a. [L. mala the cheek: cf. F. malaire.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the region of the cheek bone, or to the malar bone; jugal.

Ma"lar (?), n. (Anat.) The cheek bone, which forms a part of the lower edge of the orbit.

Ma*la"ri*a (?), n. [It., contr. fr. malaaria bad air. See Malice, and Air.] 1. Air infected with some noxious substance capable of engendering disease; esp., an unhealthy exhalation from certain soils, as marshy or wet lands, producing fevers; miasma.

The morbific agent in malaria is supposed by some to be a vegetable microbe or its spores, and by others to be a very minute animal blood parasite (an infusorian).

2. (Med.) A morbid condition produced by exhalations from decaying vegetable matter in contact with moisture, giving rise to fever and ague and many other symptoms characterized by their tendency to recur at definite and usually uniform intervals.

{ Ma*la"ri*al (?), Ma*la"ri*an (?), Ma*la"ri*ous (?) }, a. Of or pertaining, to or infected by, malaria.

Malarial fever (Med.), a fever produced by malaria, and characterized by the occurrence of chills, fever, and sweating in distinct paroxysms, At intervals of definite and often uniform duration, in which these symptoms are wholly absent (intermittent fever), or only partially so (remittent fever); fever and ague; chills and fever.

Ma`la*sha"ga*nay (?), n. [Indian name.] (Zoöl.) The fresh-water drumfish (Haploidonotus grunniens).

Mal`as*sim`i*la"tion (?), n. [Mal- + assimilation.] (Physiol.) (a) Imperfect digestion of the several leading constituents of the food. (b) An imperfect elaboration by the tissues of the materials brought to them by the blood.

Ma"late (?), n. [L. malum apple: cf. F. malate. See Malic.] (Chem.) A salt of malic acid.

{ Ma"lax (?), Ma*lax"ate (?), } v. t. [L. malaxare, malaxatum, cf. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; soft: cf. F. malaxer.] To soften by kneading or stirring with some thinner substance. [R.]

Mal`ax*a"tion (?), n. [L. malaxatio: cf. F. malaxation.] The act of softening by mixing with a thinner substance; the formation of ingredients into a mass for pills or plasters. [R.]

Mal"ax*a`tor (?), n. One who, or that which, malaxates; esp., a machine for grinding, kneading, or stirring into a pasty or doughy mass. [R.]

Ma*lay" (?), n. One of a race of a brown or copper complexion in the Malay Peninsula and the western islands of the Indian Archipelago.

{ Ma*lay" (?), Ma*lay"an (?), } a. Of or pertaining to the Malays or their country. -- n. The Malay language.

Malay apple (Bot.), a myrtaceous tree (Eugenia Malaccensis) common in India; also, its applelike fruit.

Ma"la*ya"lam (?), n. The name given to one the cultivated Dravidian languages, closely related to the Tamil. Yule.

||Mal"brouck (?), n. [F.] (Zoöl.) A West African arboreal monkey ||(Cercopithecus cynosurus).

Mal*con`for*ma"tion (?), n. [Mal- + conformation.] Imperfect, disproportionate, or abnormal formation; ill form; disproportion of parts.

Mal"con*tent` (?), a. [F., fr. mal ill + content. See Malice, Content.] discontented; uneasy; dissatisfied; especially, dissatisfied with the government. [Written also malecontent.]

The famous malcontent earl of Leicester.

Milner.

Mal"con*tent`, n. [F. malcontent.] One who discontented; especially, a discontented subject of a government; one who expresses his discontent by words or overt acts. Spenser. Berkeley.

Mal`con*tent"ed (?), a. Malcontent. -- Mal`con*tent"ed*ly, adv. -- Mal`con*tent"ed*ness, n.

Mal*da"ni*an (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any species of marine annelids of the genus Maldane, or family Maldanidæ. They have a slender, round body, and make tubes in the sand or mud.

Male- (ml- or ml-). See Mal-.

Male (ml), a. [L. malus. See Malice.] Evil; wicked; bad. [Obs.] Marston.

Male, n. Same as Mail, a bag. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Male, a. [F. mâle, OF. masle, mascle, fr. L. masculus male, masculine, dim. of mas a male; possibly akin to E. man. Cf. Masculine, Marry, v. t.] 1. Of or pertaining to the sex that begets or procreates young, or (in a wider sense) to the sex that produces spermatozoa, by which the ova are fertilized; not female; as, male organs.

2. (Bot.) Capable of producing fertilization, but not of bearing fruit; -- said of stamens and antheridia, and of the plants, or parts of plants, which bear them.

3. Suitable to the male sex; characteristic or suggestive of a male; masculine; as, male courage.

4. Consisting of males; as, a male choir.

5. (Mech.) Adapted for entering another corresponding piece (the female piece) which is hollow and which it fits; as, a male gauge, for gauging the size or shape of a hole; a male screw, etc.

Male berry (Bot.), a kind of coffee. See Pea berry. -- Male fern (Bot.), a fern of the genus Aspidium (A. Filixmas), used in medicine as an anthelmintic, esp. against the tapeworm. Aspidium marginale in America, and A. athamanticum in South Africa, are used as good substitutes for the male fern in medical practice. See Female fern, under Female. -- Male rhyme, a rhyme in which only the last syllables agree, as laid, afraid, dismayed. See Female rhyme, under Female. - - Male screw (Mech.), a screw having threads upon its exterior which enter the grooves upon the inside of a corresponding nut or female screw. -- Male thread, the thread of a male screw.

Male, n. 1. An animal of the male sex.

2. (Bot.) A plant bearing only staminate flowers.

Male`ad*min`is*tra"tion (ml`d*mn`s*tr"shn), n. Maladministration.

Ma*le"ate (?), n. A salt of maleic acid.

Male*branch"ism (?), n. The philosophical system of Malebranche, an eminent French metaphysician. The fundamental doctrine of his system is that the mind can not have knowledge of anything external to itself except in its relation to God.

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Male*con`for*ma"tion (?), n. Malconformation.

Male"con*tent` (?), a. Malcontent.

Mal`e*di"cen*cy (?), n. [L. maledicentia. See Maledicent.] Evil speaking. [Obs.] Atterbury.

Mal`e*di"cent (?), a. [L. maledicens, p. pr. of maledicere to speak ill; male ill + dicere to say, speak. See Malice, and Diction.] Speaking reproachfully; slanderous. [Obs.] Sir E. Sandys.

Mal"e*dict (?), a. [L. maledictus, p. p. of maledicere.] Accursed; abominable. [R.]

Mal`e*dic"tion, n. [L. maledictio: cf. F. malédiction. See Maledicent.] A proclaiming of evil against some one; a cursing; imprecation; a curse or execration; -- opposed to benediction.

No malediction falls from his tongue.

Longfellow.

Syn. -- Cursing; curse; execration; imprecation; denunciation; anathema. -- Malediction, Curse, Imprecation, Execration. Malediction is the most general term, denoting bitter reproach, or wishes and predictions of evil. Curse implies the desire or threat of evil, declared upon oath or in the most solemn manner. Imprecation is literally the praying down of evil upon a person. Execration is literally a putting under the ban of excommunication, a curse which excludes from the kingdom of God. In ordinary usage, the last three words describe profane swearing, execration being the strongest.

Mal`e*fac"tion (?), n. [See Malefactor.] A crime; an offense; an evil deed. [R.] Shak.

Mal`e*fac"tor (?), n. [L., fr. malefacere to do evil; male ill, evil + facere to do. See Malice, and Fact.] 1. An evil doer; one who commits a crime; one subject to public prosecution and punishment; a criminal.

2. One who does wrong by injuring another, although not a criminal. [Obs.] H. Brooke. Fuller.

Syn. -- Evil doer; criminal; culprit; felon; convict.

Mal`e*fac"tress (?), n. A female malefactor. Hawthorne.

Male*fea"sance (?), n. See Malfeasance.

Ma*lef"ic (?), a. [L. maleficus: cf. F. maléfique. See Malefaction.] Doing mischief; causing harm or evil; nefarious; hurtful. [R.] Chaucer.

Mal"e*fice (?), n. [L. maleficium: cf. F. maléfice. See Malefactor.] An evil deed; artifice; enchantment. [Obs.]

Ma*lef"i*cence (?), n. [L. maleficentia. Cf. Malfeasance.] Evil doing, esp. to others.

Ma*lef"i*cent (?), a. [See Malefic.] Doing evil to others; harmful; mischievous.

Mal`e*fi"cial (?), a. Injurious. Fuller.

Mal`e*fi"ci*ate (?), v. t. [LL. maleficiatus, p. p. of maleficiare to bewitch, fr. L. maleficium. See Malefice.] To bewitch; to harm. [Obs.] Burton.

Mal`e*fi`ci*a"tion (?), n. A bewitching. [Obs.]

Mal`e*fi"cience (?), n. [See Maleficence.] The doing of evil, harm, or mischief.

Mal`e*fi"cient (?), a. [See Maleficent.] Doing evil, harm, or mischief.

Male`for*ma"tion (?), n. See Malformation.

Ma*le"ic (?), a. [Cf. F. maléique. See Malic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid of the ethylene series, metameric with fumaric acid and obtained by heating malic acid.

Ma*len"gine (?), n. [OF. malengin; L. malus bad, evil + ingenium natural capacity. See Engine.] Evil machination; guile; deceit. [Obs.] Gower.

Ma"le*o (?), n. [From its native name.] (Zoöl.) A bird of Celebes (megacephalon maleo), allied to the brush turkey. It makes mounds in which to lay its eggs.

Male-o"dor (?), n. See Malodor.

Male*prac"tice (?), n. See Malpractice.

Male"-spir`it*ed (?), a. Having the spirit of a male; vigorous; courageous. [R.] B. Jonson.

Mal"et (?), n. [F. mallette, dim. of malle. See Mail a bag.] A little bag or budget. [Obs.] Shelton.

Male*treat" (?), v. t. See Maltreat.

Ma*lev"o*lence (?), n. [L. malevolentia. See Malevolent.] The quality or state of being malevolent; evil disposition toward another; inclination to injure others; ill will. See Synonym of Malice.

Ma*lev"o*lent (?), a. [L. malevolens, -entis; male ill + volens, p. pr. of velle to be willing or disposed, to wish. See Malice, and Voluntary.] Wishing evil; disposed to injure others; rejoicing in another's misfortune.

Syn. -- Ill-disposed; envious; mischievous; evil-minded; spiteful; malicious; malignant; rancorous.

Ma*lev"o*lent*ly, adv. In a malevolent manner.

Ma*lev"o*lous (?), a. [L. malevolus; fr. male ill + velle to be disposed.] Malevolent. [Obs.] Bp. Warburton.

Mal*ex`e*cu"tion (?), n. [Mal- + execution.] Bad execution. D. Webster.

Ma*le"yl (?), n. [Maleic + - yl.] (Chem.) A hypothetical radical derived from maleic acid.

Mal*fea"sance (?), n. [F. malfaisance, fr. malfaisant injurious, doing ill; mal ill, evil + faisant doing, p. pr. of faire to do. See Malice, Feasible, and cf. Maleficence.] (Law) The doing of an act which a person ought not to do; evil conduct; an illegal deed. [Written also malefeasance.]

Mal`for*ma"tion (?), n. [Mal- + formation.] Ill formation; irregular or anomalous formation; abnormal or wrong conformation or structure.

Mal*gra"cious (?), a. [F. malgracieux.] Not graceful; displeasing. [Obs.] Gower.

Mal"gre (?), prep. See Mauger.

Ma"lic (?), a. [L. malum an apple: cf. F. malique.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, apples; as, malic acid.

Malic acid, a hydroxy acid obtained as a substance which is sirupy or crystallized with difficulty, and has a strong but pleasant sour taste. It occurs in many fruits, as in green apples, currants, etc. It is levorotatory or dextrorotatory according to the temperature and concentration. An artificial variety is a derivative of succinic acid, but has no action on polarized light, and thus malic acid is a remarkable case of physical isomerism.

Mal"ice (ml"s), n. [F. malice, fr. L. malitia, from malus bad, ill, evil, prob. orig., dirty, black; cf. Gr. me`las black, Skr. mala dirt. Cf. Mauger.] 1. Enmity of heart; malevolence; ill will; a spirit delighting in harm or misfortune to another; a disposition to injure another; a malignant design of evil. "Nor set down aught in malice." Shak.

Envy, hatred, and malice are three distinct passions of the mind.

Ld. Holt.

2. (Law) Any wicked or mischievous intention of the mind; a depraved inclination to mischief; an intention to vex, annoy, or injure another person, or to do a wrongful act without just cause or cause or excuse; a wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others; willfulness.

Malice aforethought or prepense, malice previously and deliberately entertained.

Syn. -- Spite; ill will; malevolence; grudge; pique; bitterness; animosity; malignity; maliciousness; rancor; virulence. See Spite. -- Malevolence, Malignity, Malignancy. Malice is a stronger word than malevolence, which may imply only a desire that evil may befall another, while malice desires, and perhaps intends, to bring it about. Malignity is intense and deepseated malice. It implies a natural delight in hating and wronging others. One who is malignant must be both malevolent and malicious; but a man may be malicious without being malignant.

Proud tyrants who maliciously destroy And ride o'er ruins with malignant joy.

Somerville.

in some connections, malignity seems rather more pertinently applied to a radical depravity of nature, and malignancy to indications of this depravity, in temper and conduct in particular instances.

Cogan.

Mal"ice, v. t. To regard with extreme ill will. [Obs.]

Mal"i*cho (?), n. [Sp. malhecho; mal bad + hecho deed, L. factum. See Fact.] Mischief. [Obs.] Shak.

Ma*li"cious (?), a. [Of. malicius, F. malicieux, fr. L. malitiosus. See Malice.] 1. Indulging or exercising malice; harboring ill will or enmity.

I grant him bloody, . . . Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin That has a name.

Shak.

2. Proceeding from hatred or ill will; dictated by malice; as, a malicious report; malicious mischief.

3. (Law) With wicked or mischievous intentions or motives; wrongful and done intentionally without just cause or excuse; as, a malicious act.

Malicious abandonment, the desertion of a wife or husband without just cause. Burrill. -- Malicious mischief (Law), malicious injury to the property of another; -- an offense at common law. Wharton. -- Malicious prosecution or arrest (Law), a wanton prosecution or arrest, by regular process in a civil or criminal proceeding, without probable cause. Bouvier.

Syn. -- Ill-disposed; evil-minded; mischievous; envious; malevolent; invidious; spiteful; bitter; malignant; rancorous; malign.

-- Ma*li"cious*ly, adv. -- Ma*li"cious*ness, n.

Ma*lign" (?), a. [L. malignus, for maligenus, i. e., of a bad kind or nature; malus bad + the root of genus birth, race, kind: cf. F. malin, masc., maligne, fem. See Malice, Gender, and cf. Benign, Malignant.] 1. Having an evil disposition toward others; harboring violent enmity; malevolent; malicious; spiteful; -- opposed to benign.

Witchcraft may be by operation of malign spirits.

Bacon.

2. Unfavorable; unpropitious; pernicious; tending to injure; as, a malign aspect of planets.

3. Malignant; as, a malign ulcer. [R.] Bacon.

Ma*lign", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Maligned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Maligning.] [Cf. L. malignare. See Malign, a.] To treat with malice; to show hatred toward; to abuse; to wrong; to injure. [Obs.]

The people practice what mischiefs and villainies they will against private men, whom they malign by stealing their goods, or murdering them.

Spenser.

2. To speak great evil of; to traduce; to defame; to slander; to vilify; to asperse.

To be envied and shot at; to be maligned standing, and to be despised falling.

South.

Ma*lign", v. i. To entertain malice. [Obs.]

{ Ma*lig"nance (?), Ma*lig"nan*cy , } n. [See Malignant.] 1. The state or quality of being malignant; extreme malevolence; bitter enmity; malice; as, malignancy of heart.

2. Unfavorableness; evil nature.

The malignancy of my fate might perhaps distemner yours.

Shak.

3. (Med.) Virulence; tendency to a fatal issue; as, the malignancy of an ulcer or of a fever.

4. The state of being a malignant.

Syn. -- Malice; malevolence; malignity. See Malice.

Ma*lig"nant (?), a. [L. malignans, -antis, p. pr. of malignare, malignari, to do or make maliciously. See Malign, and cf. Benignant.] 1. Disposed to do harm, inflict suffering, or cause distress; actuated by extreme malevolence or enmity; virulently inimical; bent on evil; malicious.

A malignant and a turbaned Turk.

Shak.

2. Characterized or caused by evil intentions; pernicious. "Malignant care." Macaulay.

Some malignant power upon my life.

Shak.

Something deleterious and malignant as his touch.

Hawthorne.

3. (Med.) Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue; virulent; as, malignant diphtheria.

Malignant pustule (Med.), a very contagious disease, transmitted to man from animals, characterized by the formation, at the point of reception of the virus, of a vesicle or pustule which first enlarges and then breaks down into an unhealthy ulcer. It is marked by profound exhaustion and usually fatal. Called also charbon, and sometimes, improperly, anthrax.

Ma*lig"nant (?), n. 1. A man of extreme enmity or evil intentions. Hooker.

2. (Eng. Hist.) One of the adherents of Charles I. or Charles II.; -- so called by the opposite party.

Ma*lig"nant*ly, adv. In a malignant manner.

Ma*lign"er (?), n. One who maligns.

Ma*lig"ni*fy (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Malignified (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Malignifying (?).] [L. malignus malign + -fy.] To make malign or malignant. [R.] "A strong faith malignified." Southey.

Ma*lig"ni*ty (?), n. [F. malignité, L. malignitas.] 1. The state or quality of being malignant; disposition to do evil; virulent enmity; malignancy; malice; spite.

2. Virulence; deadly quality.

His physicians discerned an invincible malignity in his disease.

Hayward.

3. Extreme evilness of nature or influence; perniciousness; heinousness; as, the malignity of fraud. [R.]

Syn. -- See Malice.

Ma*lign"ly (?), adv. In a malign manner; with malignity.

Ma*lin"ger (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. MAlingered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Malingering.] To act the part of a malingerer; to feign illness or inability.

Ma*lin"ger*er (?), n. [F. malingre sickly, weakly, prob. from mal ill + OF. heingre, haingre, thin, lean, infirm, fr. L. aeger.] In the army, a soldier who feigns himself sick, or who induces or protracts an illness, in order to avoid doing his duty; hence, in general, one who shirks his duty by pretending illness or inability.

Ma*lin"ger*y (?), n. The spirit or practices of a malingerer; malingering.

Mal"i*son (?), n. [OF. maleicon, L. maledictio. See Malediction, and cf. Benison.] Malediction; curse; execration. [Poetic]

God's malison on his head who this gainsays.

Sir W. Scott.

Mal"kin (?), n. [Dim. of Maud, the proper name. Cf. Grimalkin.] [Written also maukin.] 1. Originally, a kitchenmaid; a slattern. Chaucer.

2. A mop made of clouts, used by the kitchen servant.

3. A scarecrow. [Prov. Eng.]

4. (Mil.) A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon.

Mall (ml; 277), n. [Written also maul.] [OE. malle, F. mail, L. malleus. Cf. Malleus.] 1. A large heavy wooden beetle; a mallet for driving anything with force; a maul. Addison.

2. A heavy blow. [Obs.] Spenser.

3. An old game played with malls or mallets and balls. See Pall-mall. Cotton.

4. A place where the game of mall was played. Hence: A public walk; a level shaded walk.

Part of the area was laid out in gravel walks, and planted with elms; and these convenient and frequented walks obtained the name of the City Mall.

Southey.

Mall (ml), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Malled (mld); p. pr. & vb. n. Malling.] [Cf. OF. mailler. See Mall beetle, and cf. Malleate.] To beat with a mall; to beat with something heavy; to bruise; to maul.