mali

See also: Mali, Malí, malí, màli, mǎlì, māli, mą́łi, and mạ lị

English

WOTD – 3 July 2022

Etymology 1

Malis (etymology 1) or gardeners shifting seedlings from nursery beds into polybags at the Aravali Biodiversity Park, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

Borrowed from Hindi माली (mālī, “gardener”), from Sanskrit माली (mālī, “wreath-maker, garland-maker; florist; gardener”), मालिन् (mālin, “florist; gardener”), from माला (mālā, “wreath, garland; chaplet, crown”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːli/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑli/, /ˈmæ-/
• Rhymes: -ɑːli, -æli
• Hyphenation: ma‧li

Noun

mali (plural malis)

2. (India, South Asia) A member of a caste in South Asia whose traditional occupation is gardening; hence, any South Asian gardener. [from mid 18th c.]
   • 1840, G. T. Frederic Speede, Indian Hand-book of Gardening; Containing Directions for the Management of the Kitchen and Flower Garden, etc. etc. in India: […], Calcutta: W. Thacker & Co. St. Andrew's Library, →OCLC, page 1:

     [H]ence the slow progress hitherto made in the cultivation of such produce of the garden as is generally held in estimation by the European portion of the community, left as it generally is, to the simple Hindoo mallee (or gardener,) it is not to be wondered at, that our bazars want what are deemed the more delicate articles of vegetable production for the table; […]

   • 1848, “Report of Exhibitions of Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers and Agricultural Produce, Held at Bhaugulpore, on 11th February and 25th May, 1848. (Communicated by Major [T. E. A.] Napleton, Honorary Secretary Branch Agri-Horticultural Society.)”, in Journal of the Agricultural & Horticultural Society of India, volumes VI, part II (Correspondence and Selections), number 3, Calcutta: Bishop's College Press, →OCLC, page 125:

     Prizes were awarded to ten other mallees for best samples of vegetables, fruits and flowers, and last though not least we have to note, that a prize of two rupees was awarded to the mallee of Robert Fulton, Esq., of Sultangunge, for a remarkably fine bunch of grapes, clearly showing that either the soil of Mr. Fulton's garden, the climate of Sultangunge, or the skill of that gentleman's gardener, are highly favorable to the growth, and bringing to maturity of this delicious fruit.

   • 1871 November 29, “Cachar: Further Correspondence on the Subject of the Looshai Raids and the Consequent Hostilities (in Continuation of Paper, No. 398, of 1871)”, in Accounts and Papers: […], volumes X (East India—continued), [London]: […] The House of Commons, […], published 28 May 1872, →OCLC, page 301:

     I sent down dhobies, sweepers, cooks, and mallees, last to dig trenches for burying the dead, when burning was not possible.

   • 1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter XXII, in A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, part II (Caves), page 203:

     He found, as he expected, that the poor girl was crying. And, as always, an Indian close outside the window, a mali in this case, picking up sounds.

   • 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC; republished as chapter 2, in Burmese Days (ebook no. 0200051h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, November 2015:

     A nearly naked mali, watering-can in hand, was moving in the jungle of flowers like some large nectar-sucking bird.

   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, chapter 5, in Sea of Poppies, London: John Murray, →ISBN, pages 91–92:

     The grounds of the estates were extensive enough to provide each mansion with a surrounding park, and these were, if anything, even more varied in design than the houses they enclosed – for the malis who tended the gardens, no less than the owners themselves, vied to outdo each other in the fancifulness of their plantings, creating here a little patch of topiary and there an avenue of trees, trimmed in the French fashion; […]

Alternative forms

• mallee
• molly

Translations

member of a caste in South Asia whose traditional occupation is gardening

South Asian gardener

• Hindi: माली (hi) m (mālī), मालिन (hi) f (mālin)
• Sanskrit: मालिन् (sa) m (mālin), मालिनी (sa) f (mālinī)
• Urdu: مالی m (mâli)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Xhosa imali, Zulu imali (“money”), both ultimately from Swahili mali (“riches, wealth; property”), from Arabic مَال (māl, “money; affluence, wealth; possessions, property”). Some dictionaries suggest an origin in English money instead, making no attempt to account for the distribution of the loanword nor the proposed shift from /n/ to /l/, both of which make this unlikely.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General South African) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːli/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑli/
• Rhymes: -ɑːli
• Hyphenation: ma‧li

Noun

mali (uncountable)

1. (South Africa) Money, cash. [from mid 19th c.]

Translations

money, cash — see money

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin malī, a plural form of malus (“adverse, unfavourable, unfortunate, unlucky; destructive, hurtful; bad, evil”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“erroneous, false; bad, evil”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪlaɪ/, /ˈmɑː-/, /ˈmæ-/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪlaɪ/, /ˈmæ-/
• Hyphenation: ma‧li

Noun

mali

1. plural of malus
   • c. 1997, ASTIN Bulletin, page 48:

     The existence of boni and mali for the different risks can be interpreted through the sign of estimated covariances.

   • 2000, Jean Pinquet, “Experience Rating through Heterogeneous Models”, in Georges Dionne, editor, Handbook of Insurance, Kluwer Academic Publishers, page 462:

     If the boni and mali do not depend on the frequency of claims, the average bonus-malus coefficient increases with the frequency.

   • 2014, Akmal Akramkhanov, Bernhard Tischbein, Usman Khalid Awan, “Effective management of soil salinity – revising leaching norms”, in John P. A. Lamers, Asia Khamzina, Inna Rudenko, Paul L. G. Vlek, editors, Restructuring Land Allocation, Water Use and Agricultural Value Chains: Technologies, Policies and Practices for the Lower Amudarya Region, V & R unipress, Bonn University Press, →ISBN, page 131:

     Akramkhanov et al. (2010) also suggested a system of boni and mali on taxes to support the implementation of measures to achieve both water saving and salinity control (Table 3.3.1).

See also

• hom mali rice (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams

• Alim, Liam, Lima, Mila, alim, lima, mail

Acehnese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mali/

Adjective

mali

1. draw; something that’s equal or in balance of each other.

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmali/
• Rhymes: -ali

Noun

mali

1. inflection of mal:
   1. definite nominative singular
   2. indefinite dative/ablative singular

Amis

Noun

mali

1. ball

References

• “Entry #”, in 阿美語中部方言辭典 [Dictionary of the Central Dialect of Amis]‎^[1] (in Chinese), Taiwan: Council of Indigenous Peoples, 2021

Bunun

Noun

mali

1. ball

Dyirbal

Adjective

mali

1. wonderful, fantastic

Dyula

Alternative forms

• mɛli

Noun

mali

1. hippopotamus

Finnish

Etymology

From Swedish malört.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑli/, [ˈmɑ̝li]
• Rhymes: -ɑli
• Syllabification^(key): ma‧li

Noun

mali

1. wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)

Declension

Inflection of mali (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		mali	malit
genitive		malin	malien
partitive		malia	maleja
illative		maliin	maleihin
		singular	plural
nominative		mali	malit
accusative	nom.	mali	malit
	gen.	malin
genitive		malin	malien
partitive		malia	maleja
inessive		malissa	maleissa
elative		malista	maleista
illative		maliin	maleihin
adessive		malilla	maleilla
ablative		malilta	maleilta
allative		malille	maleille
essive		malina	maleina
translative		maliksi	maleiksi
abessive		malitta	maleitta
instructive		—	malein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of mali (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative malini malini accusative nom. malini malini gen. malini genitive malini malieni partitive maliani malejani inessive malissani maleissani elative malistani maleistani illative maliini maleihini adessive malillani maleillani ablative maliltani maleiltani allative malilleni maleilleni essive malinani maleinani translative malikseni maleikseni abessive malittani maleittani instructive — — comitative — maleineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative malisi malisi accusative nom. malisi malisi gen. malisi genitive malisi maliesi partitive maliasi malejasi inessive malissasi maleissasi elative malistasi maleistasi illative maliisi maleihisi adessive malillasi maleillasi ablative maliltasi maleiltasi allative malillesi maleillesi essive malinasi maleinasi translative maliksesi maleiksesi abessive malittasi maleittasi instructive — — comitative — maleinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative malimme malimme accusative nom. malimme malimme gen. malimme genitive malimme maliemme partitive maliamme malejamme inessive malissamme maleissamme elative malistamme maleistamme illative maliimme maleihimme adessive malillamme maleillamme ablative maliltamme maleiltamme allative malillemme maleillemme essive malinamme maleinamme translative maliksemme maleiksemme abessive malittamme maleittamme instructive — — comitative — maleinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative malinne malinne accusative nom. malinne malinne gen. malinne genitive malinne malienne partitive malianne malejanne inessive malissanne maleissanne elative malistanne maleistanne illative maliinne maleihinne adessive malillanne maleillanne ablative maliltanne maleiltanne allative malillenne maleillenne essive malinanne maleinanne translative maliksenne maleiksenne abessive malittanne maleittanne instructive — — comitative — maleinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative malinsa malinsa accusative nom. malinsa malinsa gen. malinsa genitive malinsa maliensa partitive maliaan maliansa malejaan malejansa inessive malissaan malissansa maleissaan maleissansa elative malistaan malistansa maleistaan maleistansa illative maliinsa maleihinsa adessive malillaan malillansa maleillaan maleillansa ablative maliltaan maliltansa maleiltaan maleiltansa allative malilleen malillensa maleilleen maleillensa essive malinaan malinansa maleinaan maleinansa translative malikseen maliksensa maleikseen maleiksensa abessive malittaan malittansa maleittaan maleittansa instructive — — comitative — maleineen maleinensa

Synonyms

• koiruoho

Further reading

• “mali”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

Anagrams

• Ilma, Mila, ilma, lima

French

Noun

mali m (uncountable)

1. Mali (language)

References

• “mali”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.li/
• Rhymes: -ali
• Hyphenation: mà‧li

Noun

mali m

1. plural of male

Anagrams

• almi, lima, mail, mila

Jingpho

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj (“four”). Cognate with Burmese လေး (le:), S'gaw Karen လွံၢ် (lwee̱), Nuosu ꇖ (ly), Tibetan བཞི (bzhi), Sikkimese ཞི (zhi).

Numeral

mali

1. four

Kambera

Alternative forms

• maling

Noun

mali

1. tonight
2. late afternoon

References

• Marian Klamer (1998) A Grammar of Kambera, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 213

Kavalan

Noun

mali

1. ball

Latin

Adjective

malī

1. inflection of malus:
   1. nominative/vocative plural
   2. genitive singular

Noun

mālī

1. inflection of mālus:
   1. nominative/vocative plural
   2. genitive singular

Latvian

Verb

mali

1. second-person singular past indicative of malt

Lubuagan Kalinga

Noun

mali

1. peanut

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²mɑː.lɪ/, /²mɑː.ɽɪ/

Participle

mali

1. (non-standard since 2012) feminine singular of malen
2. (non-standard since 2012) neuter singular of malen

Verb

mali

1. (non-standard since 2012) supine of mala

Anagrams

• lami, lima, mila

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.li/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ali
• Syllabification: ma‧li
• Homophone: Mali

Adjective

mali

1. virile nominative/vocative plural of mały

Sakizaya

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ˈli/, [ma.ˈli]

Noun

mali

1. ball

Sardinian

Etymology

From Latin male. Compare Italian male.

Adverb

mali

1. (Campidanese) badly

Serbo-Croatian

Adjective

mali

1. inflection of mal:
   1. masculine nominative/vocative plural
   2. definite masculine nominative/vocative singular
   3. definite inanimate masculine accusative singular

Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin malus. Compare Italian mali, male.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.li/
• Hyphenation: mà‧li

Adjective

mali m pl or f pl

1. masculine plural of malu; bad.
2. feminine plural of malu

Inflection

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	malu	mala
Plural	mali	mali

Noun

mali m (plural mali)

1. evil, harm

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmali]

Participle

mali

1. plural l-participle of mať

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَال (māl, “property”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

Noun

mali (ma class, plural only)

1. wealth, riches
2. property

Usage notes

This word is morphologically plural but semantically singular. If a plural sense is required, it may be put in the n class.

Descendants

• → Ila: madi
• → Northern Ndebele: imali
• → Rwanda-Rundi: imari
• → Shona: mari
• → Tswana: madi
• → Xhosa: imali
• → Zulu: imali
  • → English: mali

Tagalog

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈliʔ/, [mɐˈliʔ]

• IPA^(key): /maˈleʔ/, [mɐˈlɛʔ] (colloquial)
• Hyphenation: ma‧li

Adjective

malî (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜎᜒ)

1. wrong

   Synonym: lihis

   Antonyms: tama, wasto

Derived terms

• ipagkamali
• kamalian
• kung hindi ako nagkakamali
• magkamali
• mali-mali
• maliin
• mamali
• mapagkamalan
• pagkakamali
• pagkamalan
• pamali-mali
• walang-kamali-mali

 

Etymology 2

Compare Malay mali (“Leea indica”) and Malay mali-mali (“Leea angulata”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmali/, [ˈma.lɪ]
• Hyphenation: ma‧li

Noun

mali (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜎᜒ) (botany)

1. bandicoot berry (Leea indica)

Anagrams

• lima

Turkish

Alternative forms

• malî

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish مالی (mali), from Arabic مَالِيّ (māliyy).

Adjective

mali

1. financial, fiscal

Derived terms

• maliye

 

Related terms

• emtia
• mal

References

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “mali”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Woiwurrung

Noun

mali

1. mallee