different between spiteful vs tagati

English

Alternative forms

• spightful (obsolete)
• spightfull (obsolete)
• spitefull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English spytefulle, equivalent to spite +? -ful.

Adjective

spiteful (comparative spitefuller, superlative spitefullest)

1. Filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to annoy or harm.

   Synonyms: malignant, malicious

Translations

Further reading

• spiteful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• spiteful in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

The term is first recorded in 1836; it derives from the Zulu word umthakathi, being someone who mixes medicine, which itself comes from the Zulu thaka (mix) and muthi (medicine). The term has gradually come to be used to refer only to negative, harmful uses of medicines derived from plants, animals and minerals.

Noun

tagati (uncountable)

1. In South African English, a wizard, witch, or a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others or who uses poisons and familiar spirits to carry out harmful deeds.

References

• Silva, P., (ed.) 1996. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English, Oxford University Press.