malefice means an evil deed; evilness; enchantment or sorcery. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
malefice is pronounced /ˈmæləfɪs/.
Why “malefice” is a great word
A malicious deed or enchantment crafted to inflict harm, whether by tangible act or occult means. Its etymology traces to the Latin maleficium, from maleficus ("evil-doing"), itself from male ("badly, evilly") and -ficus ("making"). Unlike sorcery, a neutral term for magical practice, or benevolence, its direct antithesis of goodwill, a malefice is poison given form: the pricking of a waxen effigy by firelight, the bitter tincture slipped into wine, the whispered curse that chills the very air. It is the shadow cast not by chaos, but by a will deliberately turned toward the dark.
Etymology
From Latin maleficium: compare French maléfice. See malefactor.
noun
- An evil deed; evilness; enchantment or sorcery.“On hills like tumuli, and waters mute,
A whiteness steals as of a world made still
When reptant Death at last rears absolute—
An earth now frozen by malefice of eyes
Aeonian dooms and realm-deep rigors fill—
The gaze of that Medusa of the skies”