malediction
(mælɪˈdɪkʃən)
Also 5 malediccyoun, -dyccion, 5–6 -diccion, 6 -diccyon.
[ad. L. maledictiōnem, n. of action f. maledīcĕre: see maledicent a. Cf. malison.]
1. The utterance of a curse; the condition of being under a ban or curse.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 49 Tyl assoylled thou be Of this legal malediccyoun. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 179/2 He was moche angry & gaue his malediccion & curse to the temple. 1526 Tindale Gal. iii. 10 For as many as are under the dedes of the lawe are vnder malediccion. 1528 More Dyalogue i. xvii. Wks. 139 And after he sheweth the malediccions that shall fall therevpon. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 93 He gaue his malediction or curse to his children and successours. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. ii. 160 (1608 Qo.) Menaces and maledictions against King and nobles. 1671 Milton Samson 978. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 485 They tried to persuade her to pronounce a malediction upon Alcibiades. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth xix, I taunted him, ridiculed him, loaded him with maledictions. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. 1, The malediction Of my affliction Is taken from me. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. ix. vi. (1864) V. 292 His progress instead of being a blessing to the land was deemed a malediction. |
2. Reviling, slander; the condition of being reviled or slandered.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 182 b, Thou art and euer hast ben free from all malediccyon and opprobry. 1659 Stanley Hist. Philos. xiii. (1701) 618/2 Giving no man a just cause of contumely or malediction. 1885 Edgar Old Ch. Life Scotl. 273 In the year 1661 the malediction of a parent was made a capital offence in Scotland. |