Etymology Explorer › Latin

Where does “peior” come from?

peior (Latin) comes from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.

Ancestry of “peior”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmalusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;...
2Ancient Greekμηλέα—
3Ancient Greekμῆλονapple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast
4Proto-Indo-European(s)meh₁l-small animal”; small animal
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →