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maledire

to curse; to damn

verb mah-leh-DEE-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin maledicere ('to speak ill of'), from male ('badly') + dicere ('to say').

Usage Note

Maledire is an irregular verb conjugated like dire: present maledico, maledici, maledice… The past participle is maledetto, which is also used as a standalone adjective meaning 'cursed' or (informally) 'damned'. It takes avere as its auxiliary. Do not confuse with bestemmiare, which specifically means to blaspheme.

Examples

"Ha maledetto il giorno in cui lo conobbe."

Natural Translation

She cursed the day she met him.

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