Etymology Explorer › Spanish

Where does “mal” come from?

mal (Spanish) 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 (Spanish): Apocopic form of malo bad; evil; amiss, awry,...

Definitions

  1. Apocopic form of malo bad; evil; amiss, awry,...

Ancestry of “mal”, step by step

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

Words derived from “mal”

  • malpais
  • malicho
  • malhecho
  • malnacido
  • maltratador
  • malparido
  • malinformado
  • maltratar
  • malpaís
  • malestar
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →