Machiavelli

Meanings

Proper Noun

  • Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian statesman and writer, whose work The Prince (1532) advises that acquiring and exercising power may require unethical methods.

Noun

Origin

  • Probably from mal- + chiavello, in which the second component is a diminutive of chiavo. The name is attested in a Late Latin document in the form Malclavelli.

Modern English dictionary

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