malum-prohibitum
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Detailed reference entry for the English word "malum-prohibitum", 16-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "malum-prohibitum" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "malum-prohibitum" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“malum prohibitum” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun — the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
Dominant Wiktionary sense: An action that is not inherently evil, but is nevertheless illegal only because prohibited, as opposed to malum in se. A malum prohibitum offense is something that is wrong only because a statute m...
Compare similar words
See how malum prohibitum compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | malum prohibitum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “malum prohibitum” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for malum prohibitum is 16 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An action that is not inherently evil, but is nevertheless illegal only because prohibited, as opposed to malum in se. A malum prohibitum offense is something that is wrong only because a statute m...".
No misspelling variants are generated for malum prohibitum in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin directly. Literally translated as "wrong because prohibited", or "bad because against the law". Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is malum prohibitum, spelled M-A-L-U-M- -P-R-O-H-I-B-I-T-U-M, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1An action that is not inherently evil, but is nevertheless illegal only because prohibited, as opposed to malum in se. A malum prohibitum offense is something that is wrong only because a statute makes it so, or by consensus that society agrees to prohibit the act, and is typically regulatory in nature and often result in no direct injury or danger to the person, entity, or property but only merely create the danger or probability of it which the statute attempts to minimize. Used to develop consensual crimes.
Etymology
From Latin directly. Literally translated as "wrong because prohibited", or "bad because against the law".
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "malum prohibitum"?
What does "malum prohibitum" mean?
What is the origin of the word "malum prohibitum"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “malum prohibitum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-L-U-M- -P-R-O-H-I-B-I-T-U-M — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index: