- 1
A malefactor is someone who does bad or illegal things. It is a careful, slightly old word. In court reports, history books, and serious news you may still see it; in everyday talk people say criminal, or “the person who did it.” It points to the doing of harm, not only to breaking a small rule. Though actually, it can sound a little like a play now, as if you have into an old novel. Teachers and lawyers like it because it is exact: not “a bad person” in general, but someone who has done a bad act.
作惡者；歹徒（較書面）
組成From Middle English, from Latin malefactor, from male (in a bad way) + factus (done), from facio (to make or do). A malefactor is “one who has done evil.”
同家族的字
- benefactorthe opposite: someone who does good for you
- malfeasancesame Latin roots: the bad act itself, rather than the person
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
malefactornoun/ˈmæləˌfæktɚ/
- 1
A criminal or felon.
- 2
An evildoer.
- ‘Pull yourself together, Bradshaw,’ said the lawyer. ‘This suspense, I know, is telling upon all of you; but it is now our intention to make an end of it. Poole, here, and I are going to force our way into the cabinet. If all is well, my shoulders are broad enough to bear the blame. Meanwhile, lest anything should really be amiss, or any malefactor seek to escape by the back, you and the boy must go round the corner with a pair of good sticks, and take your post at the laboratory door.
- Though your unseen malefactor’s actions may give the impression of confidence… Vaermina suspects he is terrified his plan will go astray.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。