Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word mal. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in mal.
Definitions and meaning of mal
mal
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /mæl/
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Frenchmal(“illness”). Doublet of malus.
Noun
mal (pluralmals)
(only in set phrases) illness, affliction.
Derived terms
(illness):grand mal
Related terms
See also
Mal
Etymology 2
Clipping of malibu.
Noun
mal (pluralmals)
(surfing) A longboard (type of surfboard).
Etymology 3
Clipping of malleolus.
Noun
mal (pluralmals)
(medicine, informal) A malleolus.
Derived terms
Anagrams
ALM, AML, LAM, Lam, Lam., M.L.A., MLA, lam
Albanian
Alternative forms
mall
malj
Etymology
Illyrian origin; from Proto-Albanian*mala, from Illyrian*mol-on. Vladimir Orel proposed Lithuanianland and Latvianmala(“bank, shore”) as cognates. Proto-Albanian *mal- reflecing on ancient Balkan toponym Illyrian *Maluntum/*Malontum, *Dimallum,*Malontina, *Maloventum and Dacian Maluesensis. Preserved in patroynms, ethnonym malësor(“highlander, mountaineer”), in toponym (historical and ethnographic region) Malësia (north Albania and Montenegro). In Kosovo (Malishevë, Gjilan, Mališevo, Prizren), in Serbia (Maleševo (Golubac), Maleševo (Rekovac)) and the name of Maleshevo Mountain (North Macedonia and Bulgaria). Gil'Ferding proposed Sanskritमरु(marú, “wilderness, mountain, rock”) as a cognate.
According to Michel Morvan a common pre-indo-european substrate with Basquemalda(“slope”) and malkor(“precipice”) (cf. pre-indo-european geonymic root *mal (*mel, *mol); Dravidian மலை(malai, “hill, mountain”) and Malayalam മല(mala, “id”)).
La Piana and Huld suggested Old Englishmolda(“forehead”) and Sanskritमूर्धन्(mūrdhan, “head, top, summit”), both derived from *ml̥Hdʰṓ. Also connected to Ancient Greek *μλωθρός(*mlōthrós), μέλαθρον(mélathron, “ridgepole”), βλαστάνω(blastánō, “to sprout, grow”). Cf. also Ancient Greekβλωθρός(blōthrós, “lofty”), Avestan𐬐𐬀-𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬜𐬋 (ka-mərəδō, “demon's head”), with a semantic development from ‘head’ > ‘summit’, compare malë(“tongue tip, tree top”)) > ‘mountain’.
2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.
Aromanian
Alternative forms
malu
Etymology
Cognate to Daco-Romanianmal. From Proto-Albanian*mala(“mountain”) (Albanianmal). Proto-Albanian *mal- reflecting on ancient Balkan toponymy Illyrian *Maluntum/*Malontum, *Dimallum,*Malontina, *Maloventum and Dacian Maluesensis. See Albanian mal(“mountain”) for more.
Noun
mal
shore
pile, heap
Related terms
meal
References
Azerbaijani
Etymology
From Arabicمَال (māl, “property”).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [mɑɫ]
Noun
mal (definite accusativemalı, pluralmallar)
property
Synonym:əmlak
goods, ware, commodity, product
Synonyms:məhsul, əmtəə(formal)
(colloquial) cargo
cattle, livestock
cow
Synonym:inək
beef (mostly in combination with ət(“meet”))
(colloquial, by extension) a dumb, dull person; an idiot
(colloquial, vulgar, by extension) a well-fed, plump woman
Declension
Bouyei
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ma˨˦/
Etymology 1
From Proto-Tai*ʰmaːᴬ(“to come”). Cognate with Thaiมา(maa), Northern Thaiᨾᩣ(ma), Laoມາ(mā), Lüᦙᦱ(maa), Ahom𑜉𑜠(ma), 𑜉𑜡(maa), 𑜉𑜡𑜠(maaa), Zhuangmaz.
Verb
mal
to come
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Proto-Tai*ʰmaːᴬ(“dog”). Cognate with Thaiหมา(mǎa), Laoໝາ(mā), Lüᦖᦱ(ṁaa), Shanမႃ(mǎa), Zhuangma.
Noun
mal
dog
Synonyms
duezmal
Derived terms
Cara
Noun
mal
water
References
R. Blench, The Rukul language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2006) (mentions this word in notes)
Catalan
Pronunciation
(Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈmal/
Rhymes: -al
Etymology 1
From Old Occitanmal, from Latinmalus.
Noun
malm (pluralmals)
evil, bad
Antonym:bé
illness
Synonym:malaltia
Related terms
malícia
Etymology 2
From Old Occitanmal, from Latinmale.
Adverb
mal
badly, poorly
Synonym:malament
Antonym:bé
Derived terms
anar a mal borràs
malestar
prendre mal
Adjective
mal (femininemala, masculine pluralmals, feminine pluralmales)
bad, poor
Synonym:dolent
Antonym:bo
Derived terms
mala herba
malament
Further reading
“mal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
“mal” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
“mal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
“mal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Cebuano
Pronunciation
Hyphenation: mal
Noun
mal
(billiards) a foul
Verb
mal
(billiards) to commit a foul
Cimbrian
Etymology
From Middle High Germanmāl, from Old High Germanmāl, from Proto-West Germanic*māl, from Proto-Germanic*mēlą(“measurement; time; meal”). Cognate with GermanMal, Mahl, Englishmeal.
Noun
maln
(Luserna) meal
Related terms
malzait
References
“mal” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.
Dalmatian
Alternative forms
mul
Etymology
From Latinmalus.
Noun
mal
evil, harm
Danish
Verb
mal
imperative of male
Dutch
Etymology 1
From Old Frenchmodle, an old (11th century) borrowing from Latinmodulus(“measure”).
Pronunciation
Rhymes: -ɑl
IPA(key): /mɑl/
Noun
malf (pluralmallen, diminutivemalletjen)
mold, cast (device to help creating shapes)
Etymology 2
From Middle Dutchmal, of uncertain origin, possibly related to Frenchmal(“bad”) or Dutchmalen(“to grind, crush”) in the sense "broken, twisted."
Adjective
mal (comparativemaller, superlativemalst)
foolish, crazy, lacking common sense
Usage notes
The adjective mal always refers to an aspect of a thing or person. It is the adjective form of the noun mallerd. For other senses, dwaas, dom and gek are used.
Inflection
Derived terms
mallerd
Further reading
van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010) , “mal1”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
Anagrams
lam
French
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /mal/
Etymology 1
From Old Frenchmal, from Latinmalus, possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European*mel-(“bad, wrong”). Near cognates include Portuguesemal, Italianmale and Spanishmalo.
Noun
malm (pluralmaux)
(as in the phrase: avoir du mal) trouble, difficulty
Synonyms:problème, emmerde
pain
evil
Derived terms
Related terms
malice
Descendants
→ English: mal
Etymology 2
From Old French, from Latinmale.
Adverb
mal
badly
Adjective
mal (feminine singularmale, masculine pluralmaux, feminine pluralmales)
(in set phrases and limited constructions) bad
Synonyms
mauvais
méchant
vilain
laid
merdique(vulgar slang)
Derived terms
Anagrams
AML
Further reading
“mal” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Galician
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈmal/
Etymology 1
From Old Galician and Old Portuguesemal, from Latinmale.
Adverb
mal
badly
Antonym:ben
Etymology 2
From Old Galician and Old Portuguesemal, from Latinmalum.
Noun
malm (pluralmales)
misfortune
bad; evil
sickness; desease
Etymology 3
Adjective
malm sg
(before the noun)Apocopic form of malo
Etymology 4
Attested since circa 1300 (máále), from Latinmanualis(“manual”). Cognate with Portuguesemangual.
Alternative forms
malle, mallo, manle, manlle
Noun
malm (pluralmales)
flail
c1300, R. Martínez López (ed.), General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV. Oviedo: Archivum, page 271:
cõmo faz a lyma ao ferro, et a fornaz ao ouro que o purga et esmera et o faz puro et paresçe mellor, et cõmo faz outrosi o máále áá messe que a degrana em çeueyra et parte a palla do graão que e o mellor
as the file does to iron, and the furnace to gold, that purges and cleans it and makes it pure and looks better; and also as the flail does to the harvest, that threshes it into sustenance and parts the straw and the grain, which is the best part
1474, Antonio López Ferreiro (ed.), Galicia Histórica. Colección diplomática. Santiago: Tipografía Galaica, page 67:
Iten, preçaron hun maal en tres maravedis
Item, they appraised a flail in three coins
handle of the flail
Synonyms:mango, mangueira, moca
References
“mal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
“maal” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
“mal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
“mal” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
“mal” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
German
Etymology
From the noun Mal(“time”). Partly shortened from einmal, which is also derived from the noun.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /maːl/(standard)
IPA(key): /ma/(colloquial)
Homophones: Mahl, Mal, mahl
Rhymes: -aːl
Adverb
mal
times (indicating multiplication of two numbers)
(informal)Alternative form of einmal(“sometime, ever, once”), may serve to introduce a new information.
(informal)Softening a sentence, thus making a request or command more polite. By extension, indicating a command or request.
Derived terms
Malrechnung
schon mal (schomma)
Verb
mal
singular imperative of malen
(colloquial)first-person singular present of malen
Further reading
“mal” in Duden online
Guinea-Bissau Creole
Etymology
From Portuguesemal. Cognate with Kabuverdianumal.
Adjective
mal
bad
Related terms
mau
Icelandic
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [maːl]
Rhymes: -aːl
Etymology 1
From mala(“to purr”).
Noun
maln (genitive singularmals, no plural)
purr
Declension
Etymology 2
See malur.
Noun
mal
indefinite accusative singular of malur
Interlingua
Etymology
From Latinmalus.
Adjective
mal (comparativeplus mal, superlativele plus mal)
bad
evil
Adverb
mal (comparativeplus mal, superlativele plus mal)
badly, poorly
wrongfully
Noun
mal (pluralmales)
bad, badness, something bad
evil
illness
pain, ache
Italian
Noun
malm (invariable)
Apocopic form of male
Kabuverdianu
Etymology
From Portuguesemal.
Adjective
mal
bad
Related terms
mau
Latvian
Verb
mal
2nd person singular present indicative form of malt
2nd person singular imperative form of malt
Middle French
Etymology
From Old Frenchmal.
Noun
malm (pluralmaulx)
bad act
Descendants
French: mal
→ English: mal
Adjective
malm (feminine singularmale or malle, masculine pluralmaulx, feminine pluralmales or malles)
malm (oblique and nominative feminine singularmale, comparativepeior, superlativepeior)
bad (undesirable; not good)
Descendants
Middle French: mal
French: mal
Old Occitan
Etymology
From Latinmalus. Gallo-Romance cognate with Old Frenchmal.
Adjective
mal
bad (negative)
bad (evil)
Descendants
Catalan: mal
Occitan: mal
References
von Wartburg, Walther (1928–2002) , “malus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German)
Old Portuguese
Etymology
From Latinmale(“badly; wrongly”).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈmal/
Adverb
mal
badly
Descendants
Fala: mal
Galician: mal
Portuguese: mal, mar
Guinea-Bissau Creole: mal
Kabuverdianu: mal
Phalura
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /mal/
Noun
malf (Perso-Arabic spellingمل)
goats
Inflection
i-decl (Obl): -í
References
Liljegren, Henrik; Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[4], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Portuguese
Pronunciation
(Brazil) IPA(key): /maw/
Homophone: mau
Rhymes: -aw
(Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈmaɫ/
Rhymes: -aɫ
Hyphenation: mal
Etymology 1
From Old Portuguesemal, from Latinmale(“badly; wrongly”).
Alternative forms
mar (eye dialect spelling, representing Caipira Portuguese)
Adverb
mal (comparativesmais mal, piorsuperlativeo mais mal)
badly(in a faulty, dysfunctional or incorrect manner)
(preceding verbs)hardly; barely
wrong(incorrect)
unfavourably(in an unfavourable manner)
(in compounds)evilly
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:mal.
Synonyms
malamente, malmente
Conjunction
mal
have/hadjust; have/hadbarely
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:mal.
Etymology 2
From Latinmalus.
Noun
malm (pluralmales)
(uncountable)evil(malevolent forces or behaviour)
harm
malady(any ailment or disease, especially a lingering one)
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:mal.
Synonyms
(sickness or syndrome):maladia
Derived terms
Related terms
Adjective
mal
(Brazil)Misspelling of mau.
Descendants
Guinea-Bissau Creole: mal
Kabuverdianu: mal
Romanian
Etymology
Cognate to Aromanianmal, and meal. From Proto-Albanian*mala(“mountain”) (Standard Albanianmal). See Albanian mal(“mountain”) for more.
Noun
maln (pluralmaluri)
shore
Declension
References
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic*malъ, from Proto-Indo-European*moh₁los.