Adjacent Words

mal- definitions

	Tweet

Merriam Webster's

combining form Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from mal bad (from Latin malus) & mal badly, from Latin male, from malus 1. a. bad <malpractice> b. badly <malodorous> 2. a. abnormal <malformation> b. abnormally <malformed> 3. a. inadequate <maladjustment> b. inadequately <malnourished>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

comb. form 1 a bad, badly (malpractice; maltreat). b faulty, faultily (malfunction). 2 not (maladroit). Etymology: F mal badly f. L male

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mal- Mal- 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 malediction, malevolent. See Malice. Note: The formmale- is chiefly used in cases where the c, 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 malis to be preferred, and is the one commonly employed.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Mal- is added to words in order to form new words which describe things that are bad or unpleasant, or that are unsuccessful or imperfect. Forty per cent of the population is suffering from malnutrition... The animals were seriously maltreated. PREFIX