Etymograph

English

mal-

Mal- comes from Latin male ‘badly’, from malus ‘bad’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *malos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*malosreconstructed
  2. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEmalos
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalus‘bad’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmale‘badly’
  5. Englishtodaymal-

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*malosreconstructed
  2. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEmalos
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalus‘bad’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmale‘badly’
  5. Englishtodaymal-

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- ‘false, erroneous’

blasphemy, 9 more

through Latin malus ‘bad’

malicious, malice, mali, pessimist, malus, 10 more

through Latin male ‘badly’

maleficent, 6 more

Today it means

prefix evil

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *malos / mal-

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