mal-: Meaning and Definition of

mal-

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a combining form meaning “bad,” “wrongful,” “ill,” occurring originally in loanwords from French (malapert); on this model, used in the formation of other words (malfunction; malcontent). Cf.

Mal.

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. Malachi.
  2. Malayan.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.