Where does “a malapena” come from?
a malapena (Italian) comes from Italian mala, from Italian malo, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.
a malapena (Italian): hardly, scarcely
Ancestry of “a malapena”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Italian | mala | underworld, gangland |
| 2 | Italian | malo | bad, evil, wicked; unfit, incompetent, inadequate |
| 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 |