malice aforethought
2
9.9
- noun
- /ˈmælɪs əˈfɔrˌθɔt/
- Jargon
:
maldad premeditada
- The prosecutor argued that there was clear evidence of malice aforethought in the defendant's actions.
- malice aforethought murder
- unlawfully, and with malice aforethought
Examples
-
While a team of men remained to search the premises, Chester Davitt was taken downtown where he would be booked on suspicion of 187l-P.C. the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.
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There was no malice aforethought.
Fiction book (1994) -
The murders were in cold blood with malice aforethought.
-
I intend to produce evidence that will prove you shot Frederick Ross with malice aforethought.
Fiction book (1992) -
At trial, Sirhan took the witness stand and said he had killed Kennedy "with 20 years of malice aforethought."
Blog text (17) -
The jury found that the defendant acted with malice aforethought when planning the attack.
-
In order to prove murder, the prosecution must show that the suspect had malice aforethought.
Synonyms
21
7.9
Planning to do something, especially a crime, before you do it
2
9.9
A person's intention or knowledge that they committed a crime
1
8.2
To want to kill or seriously hurt someone, often planned in advance
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'malice' (intent to harm) and 'aforethought' (done with prior thought), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it means harmful intent that was planned in advance. Although the term has a specific legal usage (e.g., as an element in murder), that nuance does not prevent a B1 learner from deriving the basic meaning from the parts.
Etymology
Malice aforethought comes from old law and literally combines malice ('bad will') and aforethought ('thought before'), creating the image of someone who thinks about hurting another person before acting. That's why it means planning to harm someone, for example in a murder.