In a way that deliberately causes pain, suffering, or hardship to someone else; with deliberate meanness.
From Old French 'cruel,' derived from Latin 'crudelis,' possibly related to 'crudus' meaning 'raw' or 'bleeding.' The adverb form adds '-ly' to make it modify verbs, creating the abstract concept of the manner of cruelty.
The Latin root 'crudus' (raw/bleeding) reveals an ancient connection between cruelty and raw flesh—suggesting that early languages linked harm to the visible sight of wounds, showing how our deepest vocabulary grew from physical survival instincts.
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