mal- - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: mal-

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mal-

a combining form meaning “bad,” “wrongful,” “ill,” occurring originally in loanwords from French (malapert); on this model, used in the formation of other words (malfunction; malcontent).

Compare male-.

[Origin: ME < OF, repr. mal adv. (< L male badly, ill) and adj. (< L malus bad)

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
mal-

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mal-
pref.

Bad; badly: maladminister.
Abnormal; abnormally: malformation.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin, from male, badly, and malus, bad; see mel-³ in Indo-European roots.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
mal-

prefix meaning "bad, badly, ill," from Fr., from O.Fr. mal "evil, ill, wrong, wrongly," from L. male (adv.) "badly," or malus (adj.) "bad, evil" (fem. mala, neut. malum), of unknown origin, perhaps related to Avestan mairiia "treacherous." Most Mod.Eng. words with this prefix are 19c. coinages (malnutrition, malodorous, etc.).

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Mal-

Mal-\ A prefix in composition denoting ill,or evil, F. male, adv., fr. malus, bad, ill. In some words it has the form male-, as in malediction, malevolent. See Malice.

Note: The formmale- is chiefly used in cases where the c, either alone or with other letters, is pronounced as a separate syllable, as in malediction, malefactor, maleficent, etc. Where this is not the case, as in malfeasance or male-feasance, malformation or male-formation, etc., as also where the word to which it is prefixed commences with a vowel, as in maladministration, etc., the form malis to be preferred, and is the one commonly employed.

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