Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Mal-
Mal-
(măl-)
. A prefix in composition denoting
ill
, or evil
, F. male
, adv., fr. malus
, bad, ill. In some words it has the form male-
, as in male
diction, male
volent. See Malice
. ☞ The form male- is chiefly used in cases where the e, either alone or with other letters, is pronounced as a separate syllable, as in malediction, malefactor, maleficent, etc. Where this is not the case, as in malfeasance or male-feasance, malformation or male-formation, etc., as also where the word to which it is prefixed commences with a vowel, as in maladministration, etc., the form
mal
is to be preferred, and is the one commonly employed. Definition 2024
mal-
mal-
See also: Appendix:Variations of "mal"
English
Prefix
mal-
- bad, badly as in maladjusted, malcontent - faulty, faultily as in malfunction
- not
Derived terms
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_words_prefixed_with_mal-'>English words prefixed with mal-</a>
See also
Esperanto
Etymology
Borrowing from French mal- in its secondary sense of denoting the opposite.
Prefix
mal-
Derived terms
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Esperanto_words_prefixed_with_mal-'>Esperanto words prefixed with mal-</a>
French
Etymology
From Middle French [Term?], from Old French mal-, from mal (“bad; badly”).
Prefix
mal-
- badly; wrongly
- mal- + faisant → malfaisant (“harmful”)
- denotes the opposite of the unprefixed form
Derived terms
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:French_words_prefixed_with_mal-'>French words prefixed with mal-</a>
Italian
Prefix
mal-
Derived terms
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Italian_words_prefixed_with_mal-'>Italian words prefixed with mal-</a>