Malthusian 的詞源

1812年(n.)  “英國經濟學家托馬斯 R. Malthus (1766-1835)的追隨者”，尤其是關於他在他的匿名出版的《人口原理》(1798)中提出的教義。

In this work he first made prominent the fact that population, unless hindered by positive checks, as wars, famines, etc., or by preventive checks, as social customs that prevent early marriage, tends to increase at a higher rate than the means of subsistence can, under the most favorable circumstances, be made to increase. As a remedy he advocated the principle that society should aim to diminish the sum of vice and misery, and check the growth of population, by the discouragement of early and improvident marriages, and by the practice of moral self-restraint. [Century Dictionary]

在這部作品中，他首次突出了一個事實，即人口，除非受到積極的限制，如戰爭、饑荒等，或預防措施，如阻止早婚的社會習俗，否則在最有利的情況下往往會以比生計手段更高的速度增長。作爲一種解決方法，他倡導社會應該旨在通過阻止早婚、貫徹道德自我剋制等方式來減少罪惡和痛苦的總和，以及抑制人口增長。[世紀詞典]

作爲一個形容詞，指“與馬爾薩斯有關”，由1818年開始使用。相關: Malthusianism “人口與生計手段的關係理論”(1825)。這個姓氏最早可以追溯到13世紀晚期，可能意味着“麥芽酒廠的工人”。