mal

See also Appendix:Variations of "mal"

English

Etymology 1

From French mal (“illness”).

Noun

mal (plural mals)

1. (only in set phrases) illness, affliction.

   a grand mal seizure

Derived terms

• (illness): grand mal

See also

• malicious
• Mal

Etymology 2

Shortening of malibu.

Noun

mal (plural mals)

1. (surfing) A longboard (type of surfboard).

Anagrams

• lam, Lam., MLA, M.L.A.

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Albanian

Wikipedia ^sq

Alternative forms

• mall
• malj

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *mala, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥Hdʰo (compare Old English molda ‘forehead’, Greek blythrós ‘lofty’, Avestan ka-mərɘðo ‘demon's head’). Semantic development went from ‘head’ to ‘summit’ (cf. malë ‘tongue tip, tree top’) to ‘mountain’.

Pronunciation

• IPA: [mal]

Noun

mal m (indefinite plural male, definite singular mali, definite plural malet)

1. mount
2. mountain

Declension

declension of mal

	indefinite forms (trajta të pashquara)			definite forms (trajta të shquara)
	singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)		singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)
nominative (emërore)	mal	male		mali	malet
accusative (kallëzore)	mal	male		malin	malet
genitive (gjinore) (i/e/të/së)	mali	maleve		malit	maleve
dative (dhanore)	mali	maleve		malit	maleve
ablative (rrjedhore)	mali	malesh		malit	maleve

Derived terms

• malësi

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Aromanian

Alternative forms

• malu

Etymology

Possibly from Albanian mal or related to it as a paleo-Balkanic substratum term. Compare Daco-Romanian mal.

Noun

mal

1. shore
2. pile, heap

Related terms

• meal

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Danish

Verb

mal

1. imperative of male

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑl

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /mɑl/, X-SAMPA: /mAl/

Noun

mal f (plural mallen, diminutive malletje)

1. mold, cast (device to help creating shapes)

Adjective

mal (comparative maller, superlative malst)

1. funny, 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.

Declension

Declension of mal

		positive	comparative	superlative
				attributive	predicative/adverbial
predicative/adverbial		mal	maller
neuter singular	indefinite	mal	maller
	definite	malle	mallere	malste	malst, malste
common singular		malle	mallere	malste	malste
plural		malle	mallere	malste	malste
partitive		mals	mallers

Derived terms

• mallerd

Anagrams

• lam

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French

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /mal/

Etymology 1

From Old French mal, from Latin malus, derived from Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“bad, wrong”). Near cognates include Spanish malo and Italian male.

Noun

mal m (plural maux)

1. trouble, difficulty

   J'ai du mal à m'imaginer cela. (“I have trouble imagining that.”)

2. pain

   J'ai mal à la tête. (“I have a headache.” Literally, “I have pain at the head.”)

3. evil

Derived terms

• mal de l'air
• mal de mer
• mal du pays

Etymology 2

From Old French, from Latin male.

Adverb

mal

1. badly

   C'est mal fait. (“It's done badly.”)

Adjective

mal

1. (in set phrases and limited constructions) bad

   bon an, mal an

   bon gré, mal gré

   Il est mal de [infinitive]

   C'est mal de [infinitive]

Synonyms

• mauvais
• méchant
• vilain
• laid
• merdique (vulgar slang)

See also

• pas mal
• malade
• maladie
• malaise
• mal-aimé
• maladroit
• malheur
• malfaisant

Anagrams

• AML

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maːl/
• Homophone: Mahl
• Rhymes: -aːl

Adverb

mal

1. times; indicating multiplication of two numbers

   sechs mal sieben ist zweiundvierzig

   six times seven is forty-two — 6 × 7 = 42

2. (informal) short for einmal, once
3. (colloquial) short for einmal, indicates that something is needed; can replace bitte in very informal situations

   Haben sie ’ne Uhr? (’Do you have a clock?’) - Could be interpreted as an implication that the person asked is unreliable

   Haben sie mal ’ne Uhr? - Indicates that the question is asked because the asker is in need of a clock rather than for other reasons

   Haste Feuer? (D’ya have fire? (i.e. a lighter)) - More likely to be asked when the asker has a lighter himself and wants to offer it

   Haste mal Feuer? - The asker needs a lighter but doesn’t have one.

Derived terms

• diesmal
• ein ander mal

Verb

mal

1. Imperative singular of malen.
2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of malen.

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Guernésiais

Etymology

From Old French mal, from Latin male.

Adverb

mal

1. badly

Adjective

mal

1. bad

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Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA: [maːl]
• Rhymes: -aːl

Etymology 1

From mala (“to purr”).

Noun

mal n

1. purr

Declension

declension of mal

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	mal	malið
accusative	mal	malið
dative	mali	malinu
genitive	mals	malsins

Etymology 2

See malur.

Noun

mal

1. indefinite accusative singular of malur

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Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin malus

Adjective

mal (comparative plus mal, superlative le plus mal)

1. bad
2. evil

Adverb

mal (comparative plus mal, superlative le plus mal)

1. badly, poorly
2. wrongfully

Noun

mal (plural males)

1. bad, badness, something bad
2. evil
3. illness
4. pain, ache

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Italian

Noun

mal m (invariable)

1. apocopic form of male

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Kurdish

Noun

mal f

1. home, house

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Middle French

Noun

mal m (plural maulx)

1. bad act

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Norwegian

Noun

mal m

1. template

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Old French

Etymology

From Latin malus.

Adverb

mal

1. evilly
2. badly; poorly

Noun

mal m (oblique plural maus, nominative singular maus, nominative plural mal)

1. evil
2. pain, suffering

Descendants

• French: mal (adverb and noun)

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Old Portuguese

Adverb

mal

1. badly

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Portuguese

Wikipedia ^pt

Etymology

From Old Portuguese mal, from Latin male (“badly; wrongly”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA: /maw/
  • Homophone: mau
• (Portugal) IPA: /ˈmaɫ/

Adverb

mal (comparatives mais mal, pior superlative o mais mal)

1. badly (in a faulty, dysfunctional or incorrect manner)

   O carro está funcionando bem mal.

   The car is running pretty badly.

   João fala inglês mal.

   John speaks English badly.

2. (preceding verbs) hardly; barely

   Ele mal consegue estudar com todo esse barulho.

   He can hardly study with all this noise.

3. unfavourably (in an unfavourable manner)

   Penso mal de ti.

   I think unfavourably of you.

   Ele fala mal de ti.

   He speaks unfavourably of you.

4. (in compounds) evilly

   mal-assombrado

   haunted (literally: evilly-shadowed)

   mal-agourado

   cursed (literally: evilly-foreboded)

Synonyms

• malamente, malmente

Conjunction

mal

1. have/had just; have/had barely

   Mal saí quando a encontrei.

   I had barely gone out when I found her.

Noun

mal m (plural males)

1. (uncountable) evil (malevolent forces or behaviour)

   As forças do mal cercaram o castelo.

   The forces of evil sieged the castle.

2. malady (any ailment or disease, especially a lingering one)

   mal de Parkinson

   Parkinson’s disease

   Males como a SIDA e pneumonia são mortais.

   Illnesses such as AIDS and pneumonia are deadly.

Synonyms

• (sickness or syndrome): maladia

Derived terms

• mal-assombrado
• mal-caráter
• mal de Parkinson
• mal-feito

Related terms

maladia maldade malevolência malévolo

malvadeza malvado mau

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Romanian

Etymology

Probably related and possibly from Albanian mal (variants malj, mall), or a cognate to it as a Paleo-Balkanic substratum term. Compare Aromanian mal, meal.

Noun

mal n (plural maluri)

1. shore

Declension

declension of mal

	singular		plural
gender n	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	un mal	malul	niște maluri	malurile
genitive/dative	unui mal	malului	unor maluri	malurilor

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *malъ, from Proto-Indo-European *moh₁los.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mâːl/

Adjective

mȃl (definite mȃlī, comparative mȁnjī, Cyrillic spelling ма̑л)

1. small

Declension

    positive indefinite forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		mal	mala	malo
genitive		mala	male	mala
dative		malu	maloj	malu
accusative	inanimate animate	mal mala	malu	malo
vocative		mal	mala	malo
locative		malu	maloj	malu
instrumental		malim	malom	malim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		mali	male	mala
genitive		malih	malih	malih
dative		malim(a)	malim(a)	malim(a)
accusative		male	male	mala
vocative		mali	male	mala
locative		malim(a)	malim(a)	malim(a)
instrumental		malim(a)	malim(a)	malim(a)

    positive definite forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		mali	mala	malo
genitive		malog(a)	male	malog(a)
dative		malom(u/e)	maloj	malom(u/e)
accusative	inanimate animate	mali malog(a)	malu	malo
vocative		mali	mala	malo
locative		malom(e/u)	maloj	malom(e/u)
instrumental		malim	malom	malim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		mali	male	mala
genitive		malih	malih	malih
dative		malim(a)	malim(a)	malim(a)
accusative		male	male	mala
vocative		mali	male	mala
locative		malim(a)	malim(a)	malim(a)
instrumental		malim(a)	malim(a)	malim(a)

    comparative forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		manji	manja	manje
genitive		manjeg(a)	manje	manjeg(a)
dative		manjem(u)	manjoj	manjem(u)
accusative	inanimate animate	manji manjeg(a)	manju	manje
vocative		manji	manja	manje
locative		manjem(u)	manjoj	manjem(u)
instrumental		manjim	manjom	manjim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		manji	manje	manja
genitive		manjih	manjih	manjih
dative		manjim(a)	manjim(a)	manjim(a)
accusative		manje	manje	manja
vocative		manji	manje	manja
locative		manjim(a)	manjim(a)	manjim(a)
instrumental		manjim(a)	manjim(a)	manjim(a)

    superlative forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		najmanji	najmanja	najmanje
genitive		najmanjeg(a)	najmanje	najmanjeg(a)
dative		najmanjem(u)	najmanjoj	najmanjem(u)
accusative	inanimate animate	najmanji najmanjeg(a)	najmanju	najmanje
vocative		najmanji	najmanja	najmanje
locative		najmanjem(u)	najmanjoj	najmanjem(u)
instrumental		najmanjim	najmanjom	najmanjim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		najmanji	najmanje	najmanja
genitive		najmanjih	najmanjih	najmanjih
dative		najmanjim(a)	najmanjim(a)	najmanjim(a)
accusative		najmanje	najmanje	najmanja
vocative		najmanji	najmanje	najmanja
locative		najmanjim(a)	najmanjim(a)	najmanjim(a)
instrumental		najmanjim(a)	najmanjim(a)	najmanjim(a)

Related terms

• màlen

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA: [mäl], /mal/
• Rhymes: -al

Etymology 1

Apocopic form of malo, from Latin malus, derived from Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“bad, wrong”).

Adjective

mal m (apocopate, standard form malo)

1. (before the noun) apocopic form of malo bad; evil

Usage notes

The adjective form mal is only used before a masculine singular noun. In other positions, malo is used instead.

Etymology 2

From Latin male.

Adverb

mal (comparative peor)

1. badly; poorly

Noun

mal m (plural males)

1. evil, harm; a bad thing or situation

   de mal en peor — “from bad to worse”

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɑːl/

• audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

mal c

1. moth
2. wels catfish (Silurus glanis)

Declension

Declension of mal

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	mal	malen	malar	malarna
genitive	mals	malens	malars	malarnas

See also

• fjäril c
• larv c

Verb

mal

1. imperative of mala.
2. present tense of mala.

Related terms

• malström

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Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic مال (māl, “property”).

Noun

mal

1. assets
2. (slang) stupid person
3. (slang) prostitute