Where does “malalingua” come from?
malalingua (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.
malalingua (Italian): backbiter; rumourmonger
Definitions
- backbiter; rumourmonger
Ancestry of “malalingua”, step by step
malalingua traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Italian mala
| 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 | apple tree |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |
via Italian lingua
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | lingua | tongue; language, tongue; strip, tongue |
| 2 | Latin | lingua | tongue; a speech; an utterance or expression |
| 3 | Latin | -ula | regō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -tlom | Alternative form of *-trom |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |