Where does “malplaced” come from?

malplaced (English) comes from English placed, from English place, from Middle English place, from Old French place, from Latin platēa, from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα, from Ancient Greek πλατύς, from Proto-Indo-European pléth₂us — flat.

malplaced (English): Badly or wrongly placed

Definitions

  1. Badly or wrongly placed

Ancestry of “malplaced”, step by step

malplaced traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English placed

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishplacedsimple past tense and past participle of place
2EnglishplaceAn area; somewhere within an area; A location or...
3Middle EnglishplaceA place, area or spot; a part of the Earth or universe
4Old Frenchplaceplace; location
5Latinplatēabroad way, street
6Ancient Greekπλατεῖαfeminine nominative singular of πλατύς; feminine...
7Ancient Greekπλατύςwide, broad; flat, level; broad-shouldered
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpléth₂usflat, broad
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpleth₂-flat

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 pleth₂-