ill-treated
|ill/treated|
B2
/ɪl ˈtriːtɪd/
(ill-treat)
cruel treatment
Etymology
Etymology Information
'ill-treated' originates from the combination of 'ill' meaning 'badly' and 'treated' from the verb 'treat', which comes from Old French 'traitier', meaning 'to handle or deal with'.
Historical Evolution
'traitier' transformed into the Middle English word 'treaten', and eventually became the modern English word 'treat'.
Meaning Changes
Initially, 'treat' meant 'to handle or deal with', but over time, 'ill-treated' evolved to specifically mean 'handled or dealt with badly'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having been treated badly or unfairly.
The animals were found to be ill-treated and malnourished.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/01/11 11:42