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mal-

 Origin

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:
Middle English < Old French, representing mal adv. (< Latin male badly, ill) and adj. (< Latin malus bad)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Mal- is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
mal-
 
—combining form
bad or badly; wrong or wrongly; imperfect or defective: maladjusted; malfunction
 
[Old French, from Latin malus bad, male badly]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

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,
EXPAND
malodorous, etc.).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

mal- pref.

  1. Bad; badly: malpractice.

  2. Abnormal; abnormally: malformation.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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