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mal cativo. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
mal cativo, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
mal cativo in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
mal cativo you have here. The definition of the word
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Galician
Etymology
Attested since the 18th century. From mal (“sickness”) cativo (“little”), " little sickness"
Pronunciation
Noun
mal cativo m (plural males cativos)
- (historical, pathology) an unidentified sickness (18th-19th centuries)
1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:Teño moitos calafrios,
á quentura ben detràs,
receo, si hè ò mal catìbo,
Dios che me'arrede detàl.- I have many shivers
the fever rises just next
I fear it is the mal cativo,
God keeps me away from that
- (folklore) a nervous sickness, thought to be caused by evil eye or other malediction
- (pathology, folklore) ataxia
- (pathology, folklore) syphilis
Usage notes
It is always preceded by the definite article o (or any of its alternative forms) so as to differentiate it from un mal cativo, "a little sickness".
References
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mal cativo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mal cativo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN