Where does “mal” come from?
mal (Indonesian) comes from English mall, from English pall mall, from Old French pale-maille, from Italian pallamaglio, from Italian palla, from Latin palla, from Frankish ball, from Northern Sami bállu — to fear.
mal (Indonesian): head
Definitions
- head
Ancestry of “mal”, step by step
mal traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English mall
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | mall | A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping... |
| 2 | English | pall mall | A 17th-century game in which a ball was driven... |
| 3 | Old French | pale-maille | — |
| 4 | Italian | pallamaglio | pall mall |
| 5 | Italian | palla | ball; bullet, shot; testicles |
| 6 | Latin | palla | A rectangular piece of cloth worn by ladies in... |
| 7 | Frankish | ball | — |
| 8 | Northern Sami | bállu | testicle, ball |
| 9 | Northern Sami | ballát | to become scared |
| 10 | Proto-Samic | pëlājëtēk | to become scared |
| 11 | Proto-Samic | pëlëtēk | to fear |
| 12 | Proto-Uralic | pele- | to fear |
via Dutch mal
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | mal | mold, cast; foolish, crazy, lacking common sense |
| 2 | Old French | mole | — |
| 3 | Latin | modulus | a small measure or interval; a module; a water... |
| 4 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |