Where does “mál” come from?
mál (Icelandic) comes from Icelandic mála, from Old Norse mála, from Middle Low German mālen, from Old Saxon *mālōn, from Proto-West Germanic *mālēn, from Proto-Albanian melana, from Proto-Indo-European melh₂-n-, from Proto-Indo-European melh₂- — to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange.
mál (Icelandic): language; speech; matter, affair
Definitions
- language; speech; matter, affair
Ancestry of “mál”, step by step
mál traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Icelandic mála
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Icelandic | mála | to paint; indefinite genitive plural of mál |
| 2 | Old Norse | mála | to grind |
| 3 | Middle Low German | mālen | to draw, paint; to paint |
| 4 | Old Saxon | *mālōn | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *mālēn | to paint |
| 6 | Proto-Albanian | melana | black |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | melh₂-n- | dull black |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | melh₂- | to grind, to crush |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | mel- | soft; tender; weak; to deceive; to rub |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | mey- | to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange |