malediction

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”).

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malediction (countable and uncountable, plural maledictions)

1. A curse.

   Antonym: benediction

   • 1771, [Henry Mackenzie], “His Skill in Physiognomy”, in The Man of Feeling, 2nd edition, London: Printed for T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 94:

     [H]is friend, with great ebullience of paſſion, many praiſes of his own good play, and many maledictions on the power of chance, took up the cards, and threw them into the fire.

   • 1961, Richard Bellman, Adaptive Control Processes: A Guided Tour, Princeton University Press, page 94:

     In view of all that we have said in the foregoing sections, the many obstacles we appear to have surmounted, what casts the pall over our victory celebration? It is the curse of dimensionality, a malediction that has plagued the scientist from earliest days.

2. Evil speech.

• maledictive
• maledictory