Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “malformed” come from?

Malformed derives from Old French mal- combined with English formed, tracing back through Latin male (badly) and malus (bad) to Proto-Indo-European roots including melH₂- and mel-.

malformed (English): Not formed correctly; misshapen; deformed

Definitions

  1. Not formed correctly; misshapen; deformed

Ancestry of “malformed”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishmal-bad, badly as in maladjusted, malcontent -...
2Old Frenchmal-bad; badly
3Latinmalebadly; wrongly; cruelly, wickedly
4Latinmalusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;...
5Ancient Greekμηλέα—
6Ancient Greekμῆλονapple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast
7Proto-Indo-European(s)meh₁l-small animal”; small animal

Words derived from “malformed”

  • nonmalformed
  • malformedness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →