Other forms: maledictions
A malediction is a curse spoken against somebody. Utter a malediction, a muttered malediction, the malediction of a dying man.
It is formal and literary where curse is plain, and its exact opposite is benediction, a blessing. The two words are built the same way from the same parts: mal for bad, bene for good, and dicere for speaking.
1nounmaledictionA curse spoken against somebody.
“The old woman muttered a malediction against the family who had driven her away.”
malediction is a curse.
Latin maledictio comes from male, badly, plus dicere, to speak. Benediction is its mirror image.
Latin
maledictiō — curse
Middle French
malédiction
Middle English
malediccion
English, today
malediction
Built from
From late Middle English malediccion, from Middle French malédiction, from Latin maledictiō (“curse”) from malus (“evil”) + dictiō (“speech”) noun of action from perfect passive participle dictus (“spoken”), from verb dīcō (“speak”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA