Where does “má” come from?

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

má (Portuguese): feminine singular of mau

Definitions

  1. feminine singular of mau

Ancestry of “má”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Portuguesemãohand
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
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →Every word from Ancient Greek μῆλον →Every word from Ancient Greek μηλέα →