Etymology Explorer › Old Occitan

Where does “mal” come from?

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

mal (Old Occitan): bad

Definitions

  1. bad

Ancestry of “mal”, 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- →