Malum
Nocens ;O
I don't know about Latin but in Romanian it means Evil
-cide can mean to kill and wrong/bad/evil
Evil Dragon in Latin
"Ego sum malus."
intrinsically evil (Latin)
Defensores contra malum is the Latin equivalent of 'protectors from evil'. In the word by word translation, the noun 'defensores' means 'protectors'. The preposition 'contra' means 'against'. The noun 'malum' means 'evil'.
The root word for malice is the latin adjective maluswhich means "evil or bad"
The Latin word for pure evil is the word purae. These words are said in Italian as il male puro and in French as mal pur.
Curse. "Malediction" comes from Latin for "bad" (or "evil") and "say."
While I can't say for certain what was behind the choice ... the meaning is pretty obvious to anyone who knows Latin. "Bene-" is the Latin root for "good" and "Mal-" is the Latin root for "evil", so "maleficent" is like "beneficent" except ... y'know ... evil instead of good.