Where does “mal” come from?
mal (Portuguese) comes from Old Occitan mal, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.
mal (Portuguese): badly; hardly; barely; wrong
Definitions
- badly; hardly; barely; wrong
Ancestry of “mal”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Occitan | mal | bad |
| 2 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | — |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |