malus
malus Lexical Profile
malus Game Scores & Validity
• noun
In finance and insurance, a downward adjustment, penalty, or forfeiture of previously earned bonuses imposed when an executive's performance falls short or an insured policyholder files a claim.
"The bank's compensation committee invoked a malus clause to reduce the deferred stock awards of executives after the compliance failure."
Any deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Malus in the rose family (Rosaceae), including orchard apples and ornamental flowering crabapples, widely cultivated across temperate regions for their showy clusters of fragrant five-petaled white, pink, or crimson spring blossoms and edible or decorative pome fruits.
Word Nuance & Usage
In Latin, 'malus' (with a short 'a') means 'bad' or 'evil' (yielding the financial term 'bonus-malus'), whereas 'mālus' (with a long 'a') means 'apple tree' (yielding the botanical genus Malus).
• Rhymes for malus
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from two distinct Classical Latin words: 'malus' meaning 'bad, evil' (in financial contexts, formed as an antonym to 'bonus') and 'mālus' meaning 'apple tree' (related to Ancient Greek 'mēlon', apple).
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.