mal- / male-
bad, badly, ill
Latin · male; malus
Latin malus (bad) and male (badly) give mal-. It marks bad or faulty things: malfunction (works badly), malnutrition (bad feeding), malicious (with bad intent), malaria (bad air).
Memory trick
mal- is a mallet hitting something: bad news, bad work, bad intent.
Words from this root
- malfunction (mal + function) — to work badlyख़राब होना
- malnutrition (mal + nutrition) — illness from poor dietकुपोषण
- malaria (mal + aria) — a fever spread by mosquitoesमलेरिया
- maltreat (mal + treat) — to treat badlyबुरा बर्ताव करना
- malice (mal + ice) — a wish to harmद्वेष
- malicious (mal + icious) — done with the wish to harmद्वेषपूर्ण
- malign (mal + ign) — to speak evil aboutबदनाम करना
- malignant (mal + ignant) — harmful and likely to spreadघातक
- malady (mal + ady) — an illnessरोग
- malevolent (male + volent) — wishing evil to othersबुरा चाहने वाला
- malpractice (mal + practice) — wrong or careless professional conductकदाचार
- malware (mal + ware) — harmful computer softwareमैलवेयर, हानिकारक सॉफ़्टवेयर