.
>
> Incidentally, is there any pre-19th century term, in any
> language, which
> is even remotely a snynom for "sadism"?
>
Not to start the kink wars going again, but what do you mean by sadism? I presume you _don't_ mean one of the consensual sexual games perverts play. (Which also antedate the 19th century.) Rather you mean something like deriving gratification from or enjoyment in intentional cruelty, right? which is of course nothing new either. Any language, you say. Schadenfreude? (I am pretty sure that is pre-19th century.) Of course that can be petty and doesn't have involved the enjoyer's infliction of the pain or humiliation. How about the good old English term "malice" or "maliciousness," since you wanted the adjectival, doesn't that suggest deliberate and intentional infliction of harm spiced with enjoyment as well as ill will?