maletote means an arbitrary tax; in particular, a levy imposed by the English monarch on a certain good beyond ordinary customs duties. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.
maletote is pronounced /ˈmæl.təʊt/.
Why “maletote” is a great word
MALETOTE — [Noun] An arbitrary or unjust tax levied by the English monarch beyond the standard customs duties, specifically on a commodity. From Middle English maltode or maletote, from Anglo-Norman maltolt, from Medieval Latin malatolta, a compound of Latin mala ("evil, unjust") and tolta ("tax, levy"), the latter from tollīta ("raised"), used as the past participle of Latin tollō ("to lift, take away"). Unlike a "customs duty," a standard, lawful levy on trade, or a "subsidy," a state grant for public benefit, a maletote was an extra-legal exaction, a king’s hand dipping a second time into the same purse. It is the cold weight of a silver mark lifted by fiat, the sour scent of resentment in a wool warehouse, and the quiet, impotent heat of a grievance recorded on a parchment roll—the palpable friction where royal power grinds against the limits of the tolerable.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English maltode, from Anglo-Norman maltolt (“unjust tax”), from Medieval Latin malatolta, from mala (“evil”) + tolta (“tax”), the latter from tollīta (“raised”), used in Medieval Latin as past participle of Classical Latin tollō.
noun
- An arbitrary tax; in particular, a levy imposed by the English monarch on a certain good beyond ordinary customs duties.“Immediately hereupon, even this very yeere, was this complained of in Parliament, and a Petition exibited by the Lords and Cõmons, that it might be enacted, that this Maletolt or Imposition, because it was taken without assent of Parliament, might be taken away, and that a Law might be made, that no such charge might be laid, but by assent of Parliament: […]”