Mal- | Meaning Of Prefix Mal- By Etymonline

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Origin and history of mal-

mal-

word-forming element of Latin origin meaning "bad, badly, ill, poorly, wrong, wrongly," from French mal (adv.), from Old French mal (adj., adv.) "evil, ill, wrong, wrongly" (9c.), from Latin male (adv.) "badly," or malus (adj.) "bad, evil" (fem. mala, neuter malum), from Proto-Italic *malo-, from PIE *mol-o-, probably from PIE root *mel- (3) "false, bad, wrong."

Most Modern English words with this element are 19c. coinages. It generally implies imperfection or deficiency, but often it is simply negative (as in malfeasance, malcontent). It is equivalent to dys- and caco- of Greek origin and Germanic mis- (1).

Entries linking to mal-

malcontent

1580s, noun and adjective, "dissatisfied, discontented," especially with the existing order of things;" "discontented person," especially a discontented subject of a government, from French malcontent; see mal- + content (adj.). Related: Malcontented; malcontentedly; malcontentedness.

malfeasance(n.)

"wrongful conduct, the doing of that which ought not to be done," especially "official misconduct, violation of a public trust or obligation," 1690s, from French malfaisance "wrongdoing," from malfaisant, from mal- "badly" (see mal-) + faisant, present participle of faire "to do," from Latin facere "to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

[S]pecifically, the doing of an act which is positively unlawful or wrongful, in contradistinction to misfeasance, or the doing of a lawful act in a wrongful manner. The term is often inappropriately used instead of misfeasance. [Century Dictionary]

 Malfeasor "wrong-doer" is attested from early 14c. Related: Malfeasant.

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• See All Related Words (51)

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malaisec. 1300, maleise "pain, suffering; sorrow, anxiety," also, by late 14c., "disease, sickness," from Old French malaise "difficulty, suffering, hardship," literally "ill-ease," from mal "bad" (see mal-) + aise "ease" (see ease (n.)). The current use, in the sense of "unease, discommalapertlate 14c., "impudent, shameless, presumptuous," from Old French mal apert "over-ready, impudent," literally "ill-skilled," from mal "badly" (see mal-) + apert "skillful," variant of espert "experienced, skillful, clever" (from Latin expertus; see expert (adj.)). Attested from c. malaria1740, "unwholesome air, air contaminated with the poison producing intermittent and remittent fever," from Italian mal'aria, from mala aria, literally "bad air," from mala "bad" (fem. of malo, from Latin malus; see mal-) + aria "air" (see air (n.1)). Probably first used by Italiamaulstickthe painting hand," 1650s, from Dutch maalstok, literally "painting stick," from mallen "to paint," from Proto-Germanic *mal...- (source also of Old Norse mæla, Old High German malon "trace, draw, paint," German malen "to paint"), from mal "spot, mark...blackmailThis is from Old English mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement," from Old Norse mal "speech, agreement;" related to...mealfrom Proto-Germanic *mela- (source also of Old Frisian mel "time;" Middle Dutch mael, Dutch maal "time; meal;" Old Norse mal..."measure, time, meal;" German Mal "time," Mahl "meal;" Gothic mel "time, hour"), from PIE *me-lo-, from root *me- (2) "to...miasma," from stem of miainein "to pollute," from possible PIE root *mai- (2) "to stain, soil, defile" (source of Old English mal...aubergine"fruit of the eggplant" (Solanum esculentum), 1775, from French aubergine, from Catalan alberginera (showing typical change of al- to au- in French), from Arabic al-badinjan "the eggplant" (source also of Spanish alberengena, 15c.), from Persian badin-gan, from Sanskrit vatigagamrespectlate 14c., "relationship, relation; regard, consideration" (as in in respect to), from Old French respect and directly from Latin respectus "regard, a looking at," literally "act of looking back (or often) at one," noun use of past participle of respicere "look back at, regard, cpointc. 1200, pointe, "minute amount, single item in a whole; sharp end of a sword, etc.," a merger of two words, both ultimately from Latin pungere "to prick, pierce," from a nasalized form of PIE root *peuk- "to prick." The Latin neuter past participle punctum was used as a noun, me

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/mal-CopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/mal-">Etymology of mal- by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of mal-. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 2, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/mal-CopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of mal-," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 2, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/mal-.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of mal-." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/mal-. Accessed 2 January, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of mal-." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/mal- (accessed January 2, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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