Where does “mau” come from?
mau (Guinea-Bissau Creole) comes from Portuguese mau, from Old Portuguese mão, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.
mau (Guinea-Bissau Creole): bad
Ancestry of “mau”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | mau | bad; evil, wicked; harmful |
| 2 | Old Portuguese | mão | hand |
| 3 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |