Morphemes in “malicious”
“malicious” has 2 morphemes: malice + -ious.
malic
root
+
ious
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are malice + -ious.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| malice (written malic) | free root | free | feeling a need to see others suffer |
| -ious | derivational suffix | bound | having, full of, characterised by (form of -ous) |
How the word is built
malice → malicious
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “malice” is where the chain starts.
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Segmentation derived from MorphyNet (Batsuren, Bella & Giunchiglia, 2021; CC BY-SA 3.0, built from Wiktionary), with hand-written affix glosses and root meanings from WordNet. Reviewed for classroom use; tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many morphemes are in "malicious"?
"malicious" has two morphemes: malice + -ious.
How do you break "malicious" into morphemes?
malice + -ious. The root is "malice"; -ious is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "malicious"?
The root of "malicious" is "malice", built up as malice → malicious.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.