prefix
Meaning 1
bad, badly
evil
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- malism, malinfluence
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
mal-
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
prefix
Meaning 2
bad, badly
unhealthy, harmful
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- maleffect
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-
Antonyms: none provided
prefix
Meaning 3
bad, badly
unpleasant
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- malodor
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-
Antonyms: none provided
prefix
Meaning 4
bad, badly
incorrect
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- maldifferentiation
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-, para-, dis-, dys-
Antonyms: none provided
prefix
Meaning 5
bad, badly
incomplete, unfinished
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- maldescent
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-
Antonyms: none provided
prefix
Meaning 6
bad, badly
poorly, deficiently
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- malfed, malnourished, malcirculation
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-, under-, hypo-, dys-
Antonyms: none provided
prefix
Meaning 7
unintentional, mistaken, accidental
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- malcommunication
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mis-
Antonyms: none provided
prefix
Meaning 8
not
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: morpheme
Examples
- maladherence, malcontent
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: a-, an-, dys-, in-, non-, un-
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel-? Proto-Italic *malos Latin malus Latin maleder. Old French mal- English mal- From Old French mal- from Latin male (“badly”), from malus (“bad”).