also misdemeanour, late 15c., "ill-behavior, evil conduct, fault," but almost always used in the legal sense of "an indictable offense of less grave nature than a felony;" from mis- (1) "wrong" + Middle English demenure "conduct, management" (see demeanor). Related: Misdemeanors; misdemeanours. Misdemean "behave ill, conduct (oneself) improperly" is from French (and from mis- (2)), but it is attested only from 1560s and is too late to be the source of this word.
"a physical disorder or disease," late 13c., maladie, from Old French maladie "sickness, illness, disease" (13c.), abstract noun from malade "ill" (12c.), from Late Latin male habitus "doing poorly, feeling sick," literally "ill-conditioned," from Latin male "badly" (see mal-) + habitus, past participle of habere "to have, hold" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive"). Extended sense of "moral or mental disorder, disordered state or condition" is from 14c. Related: Maladies.
An earlier form in Middle English was infame (late 14c.), from Old French infame, an earlier form of infamie. Infame also was the Middle English verb in this set, "brand with infamy," from Old French infamer, from Latin infamare "bring into ill repute, defame," from infamis. The verb has become archaic in English (infamize is attested from 1590s).
