Where does “malalignment” come from?

Malalignment comes from English mal- (bad) combined with alignment, which derives from French alignement, from Old French aligner (to align), from Latin ad- (to) and linea (line).

malalignment (English): Bad or wrong alignment; misalignment

Definitions

  1. Bad or wrong alignment; misalignment

Ancestry of “malalignment”, step by step

malalignment traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English alignment

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishalignmentAn arrangement of items in a line; The process of...
2Frenchalignementalignment
3Frenchalignerto align
4Middle Frenchaligner
5Old Frenchalignier
6Latinlinearepresent active infinitive of līneō; second-person...
7LatinlīneaA linen thread
8Latinlīnumflax
9Proto-Italiclīnom
10Proto-Indo-Europeanlīnomflax

via English mal

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishmalillness, affliction; A longboard; Malleolus
2Frenchmaltrouble, difficulty; pain; evil
3Old Frenchmalevilly; badly; poorly; evil
4Latinmalleushammer, mallet; a disease of animals; the...
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmelh₂-no-
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmelh₂-to grind, to crush
7Proto-Indo-Europeanmel-soft; tender; weak; to deceive; to rub
8Proto-Indo-Europeanmey-to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange
Every word from Proto-Indo-European līnom
malalignment — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer