Where does “mal-” come from?

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

mal- (Old French): bad; badly

Definitions

  1. bad; badly

Ancestry of “mal-”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmalebadly; wrongly; cruelly, wickedly
2Latinmalusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;...
3Ancient Greekμηλέαapple tree
4Ancient Greekμῆλονapple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast
5Proto-Indo-European(s)meh₁l-small animal”; small animal

Words derived from “mal-”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →Every word from Ancient Greek μῆλον →Every word from Ancient Greek μηλέα →