malus
malus Lexical Profile
malus Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An increase in an insurance premium applied to a policyholder who has made frequent or costly claims, often functioning alongside a no-claims discount system.
"Under the new bonus-malus system, drivers with a history of at-fault accidents will face a substantial malus on their annual car insurance renewals."
A financial penalty or clawback arrangement in which an employee's deferred compensation or bonus is reduced or canceled, usually due to poor performance, risk management failures, or misconduct.
"The bank introduced a strict malus clause in executive contracts to ensure accountability for long-term financial risks."
A genus of small deciduous trees and shrubs in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, which includes all cultivated apples and crabapples.
"The orchardist specialized in several rare species of Malus, grafting heirloom crabapple varieties onto hardy rootstocks."
Word Nuance & Usage
In finance and insurance, 'malus' is almost always paired with 'bonus' as part of a risk-adjustment or performance mechanism. When referring to the botanical genus of apples, it is treated as a proper noun and capitalized as 'Malus'.
• Rhymes for malus
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The financial and insurance term is borrowed directly from Latin 'malus', meaning 'bad' or 'evil'. The botanical term comes from a separate Latin word, 'mālus' (apple tree), derived from the Ancient Greek 'mēlon' (apple).
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.