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

English - Etymology 2

Shortening of malibu.

Noun

mal (plural mals)

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

English - Anagrams

• lam, Lam., MLA, M.L.A.

Albanian - Alternative Forms

• mall
• malj

Albanian - 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’ (compare malë ‘tongue tip, tree top’) to ‘mountain’. Cf. also Romanian and Aromanian mal.

Albanian - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mal]

Albanian - Noun

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

1. mount
2. mountain

Declension

Derived terms

• tërmal
• malësi
• malësor

Related terms

• majë

Aromanian - Alternative Forms

• malu

Aromanian - Etymology

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

Aromanian - Noun

mal

1. shore
2. pile, heap

Related terms

• meal

Danish - Verb

mal

1. imperative of male

Dutch - Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑl
• IPA^(key): /mɑl/

Dutch - Noun

mal f (plural mallen, diminutive malletje n)

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

Dutch - 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

Derived terms

• mallerd

Dutch - Anagrams

• lam

French - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mal/

French - Etymology 1

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

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

French - 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)

French - See Also

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

French - Anagrams

• AML

French - External Links

• “mal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician - Etymology 1

From Latin male.

Adverb

mal

1. badly

Antonyms

• ben

Galician - Etymology 2

From Latin malum.

Noun

mal m (plural males)

1. misfortune
2. bad; evil
3. sickness

Galician - Etymology 3

Adjective

mal m sg

1. (before the noun) apocopic form of malo

German - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maːl/
• Homophone: Mahl
• Rhymes: -aːl

German - 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
• einmal

German - Verb

mal

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

German - External Links

• mal in Duden online

Icelandic - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [maːl]
• Rhymes: -aːl

Icelandic - Etymology 1

From mala (“to purr”).

Noun

mal n

1. purr

Declension

Icelandic - Etymology 2

See malur.

Noun

mal

1. indefinite accusative singular of malur

Interlingua - Etymology

From Latin malus

Interlingua - Adjective

mal (comparative plus mal, superlative le plus mal)

1. bad
2. evil

Interlingua - Adverb

mal (comparative plus mal, superlative le plus mal)

1. badly, poorly
2. wrongfully

Interlingua - Noun

mal (plural males)

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

Italian - Noun

mal m (invariable)

1. apocopic form of male

Kurdish - Noun

mal f

1. home, house

Latvian - Verb

mal

1. 2nd person singular present indicative form of malt
2. 2nd person singular imperative form of malt

Lojban - Rafsi

mal

1. rafsi of mabla.

Middle French - Noun

mal m (plural maulx)

1. bad act

Norman - Etymology

From Old French mal, from Latin male.

Norman - Adverb

mal

1. (Guernsey) badly

Norman - Adjective

mal

1. (Guernsey) bad

Norwegian Bokmål - Etymology 1

From Dutch

Noun

mal m (definite singular malen, indefinite plural maler, definite plural malene)

1. a template

Norwegian Bokmål - Etymology 2

Verb

mal

1. imperative of male

Norwegian Bokmål - References

• “mal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk - Etymology

From Dutch

Norwegian Nynorsk - Noun

mal m (definite singular malen, indefinite plural malar, definite plural malane)

1. a template

Norwegian Nynorsk - References

• “mal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Novial - Adjective

mal

1. bad

Old French - Etymology

From Latin malus.

Old French - Adverb

mal

1. evilly
2. badly; poorly

Old French - Noun

mal m (oblique plural maus or max or mals, nominative singular maus or max or mals, nominative plural mal)

1. evil
2. pain, suffering

Old French - Adjective

mal

1. bad (undesirable; not good)

Descendants

• French: mal (adverb and noun)

Old Portuguese - Etymology

From Latin male (“badly; wrongly”).

Old Portuguese - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmal/

Old Portuguese - Adverb

mal

1. badly

Descendants

• Fala: mal
• Galician: mal
• Portuguese: mal

Portuguese - Etymology

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

Portuguese - Pronunciation

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

Portuguese - 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. wrong (incorrect)

   A resposta está mal.

   The answer is wrong.

4. unfavourably (in an unfavourable manner)

   Penso mal de ti.

   I think unfavourably of you.

   Ele fala mal de ti.

   He speaks unfavourably of you.

5. (in compounds) evilly

   mal-assombrado

   haunted (literally: evilly-shadowed)

   mal-agourado

   cursed (literally: evilly-foreboded)

Synonyms

• malamente, malmente

Portuguese - Conjunction

mal

1. have/had just; have/had barely

   Mal saí quando a encontrei.

   I had barely gone out when I found her.

Portuguese - 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. harm

   Ela não fez por mal.

   She meant no harm.

   Não faz mal.

   No problem. (It does not matter.)

3. 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

Romanian - Etymology

From Dacian *mal-. Compare Aromanian mal, meal. Cf. also Albanian mal.

Romanian - Noun

mal n (plural maluri)

1. shore

Declension

Serbo-Croatian - Etymology

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

Serbo-Croatian - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mâːl/

Serbo-Croatian - Adjective

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

1. small

Declension

Related terms

• màlen

Spanish - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mäl], /mal/
• Rhymes: -al

Spanish - 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.

Spanish - 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”

Swedish - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːl/

Swedish - Noun

mal c

1. moth
2. wels catfish (Silurus glanis)

Declension

See also

• fjäril c
• larv c

Swedish - Verb

mal

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

Related terms

• malström

Turkish - Etymology

From Arabic مال (māl, “property”).

Turkish - Noun

mal

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

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