Malvolio

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The vain, self-regarding steward in Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night ; a figure who is used to describe someone who is spiteful and self-important
2. The overbearing household servant from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night ; a term for a person who is sour, scornful and full of his own dignity
3. Shakespeare's comic steward who is tricked into believing his mistress loves him ; any haughty, malicious person who takes great pride in self-importance

Etymology: Malvolio is the name of the pompous steward in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" (c. 1601), and the name itself is a deliberate piece of Elizabethan wordplay. It combines Italian "mal" (bad) with Latin "volo" (I wish), so it means roughly "ill-willed" or "ill-wisher." Shakespeare chose a name that announces the character's sourness before he ever speaks. The name was a clever choice because "malvolio" sounds like a compound of two real words that audiences would have recognised. Its Italian and Latin elements fit the play's Italianate setting in Illyria, and the name's meaning matches Malvolio's role as the character who wishes ill on the merry household around him. The name became so tied to the character that it was later used as a common noun for a person who is excessively self-important or who spoils the fun.