Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mal-

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.55 in modern English

Syllables: mal-
IPA

5

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

2

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

prefix

prefix

prefix

prefix

prefix

prefix

prefix

unintentional, mistaken, accidental

prefix

not

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *(s)molos? Proto-Italic *malos Archaic Latin malos Latin malus Latin maleder. Old French mal- English mal- From Old French mal- from Latin male (“badly”), from malus (“bad”).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: male

Synonyms

mis- para- dis- dys- under- hypo- a- an- in- non- un-

Questions

What does mal- mean?: bad, badly
Where does mal- come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce mal-

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mal-”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “mal-” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.