Machiavelli
Meanings
name
- Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian statesman and writer, whose work The Prince (1532) advises that acquiring and exercising power may require unethical methods.
noun
- Someone like Niccolò Machiavelli: a Machiavellian person
Word forms
Etymology
Probably from Italian mal- + chiavello, in which the second component is a diminutive of chiavo (“nail”). The name is attested in a Late Latin document in the form Malclavelli.
Related words
Derived words
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