Where does “Malware” come from?
Malware (German) comes from English malware, from English mal, from French mal, from Old French mal, from Latin malleus, from Proto-Indo-European melh₂-no-, from Proto-Indo-European melh₂-, from Proto-Indo-European mel- — to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange.
Malware (German): malware; drawing goods, such as colored pencils,...
Definitions
- malware; drawing goods, such as colored pencils,...
Ancestry of “Malware”, step by step
Malware traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English malware
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | malware | Software which has been designed to operate in a... |
| 2 | English | mal | illness, affliction; A longboard; Malleolus |
| 3 | French | mal | trouble, difficulty; pain; evil |
| 4 | Old French | mal | evilly; badly; poorly; evil |
| 5 | Latin | malleus | hammer, mallet; a disease of animals; the... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | melh₂-no- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | melh₂- | to grind, to crush |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mel- | soft; tender; weak; to deceive; to rub |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | mey- | to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange |
via German mālen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | mālen | to paint do paintwork |
| 2 | Middle High German | mālen | — |
| 3 | Old High German | mālōn | to paint, to draw |
| 4 | Old High German | māl | a time; spot, stain |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | māl | time, occasion; mealtime |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | mēlą | measure, measurement; time, occasion; point in... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | meh₁lom | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | meh₁- | to measure |