# μάλα
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* μᾰ́λ’ (mál’) (apocopic form)

### Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“strong, better”). Cognates include Latin melius, multus and Latvian milns.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /má.la/ → /ˈma.la/ → /ˈma.la/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /má.la/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈma.la/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈma.la/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈma.la/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈma.la/

### Adverb

μᾰ́λᾰ • (mála)
* very, very much, exceedingly
** (simply strengthening the word with which it stands)
*** (with adjectives)
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.1
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.741
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 2.306
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.26
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 11.135
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 20.302
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 15.556
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 16.121
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.124
**** 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Parmenides 126B
**** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 230B
**** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.7.1
**** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 531E
*** (with adverbs)
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 12.165
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.143
**** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 80C
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 22.190
**** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 92D
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 23.175
**** 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 156A
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.557
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.717
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 18.370
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 6.258
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 20.362
**** 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1345
**** 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 654
**** 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 1410
**** 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 870
**** 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 1045
**** 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 460
**** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.181
**** 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 728
**** 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 879
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.241
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.103
**** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.93
**** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.37
**** 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 676
*** (with verbs)
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.249
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.218
**** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 6.319
**** 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 915
**** 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 368
**** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 6.1.36
**** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 7.1.25
** (strengthening an assertion)
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 16.492
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 4.733
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.108
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 4.472
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.422
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.583
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.204
** (in Homer, often after εἰ)
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.399
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.485
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.318
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.317
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.58
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.710
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.217
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.571
*** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 18.385
** (in Attic, often in answers) yes, certainly, exactly so
*** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 555D
*** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 564E
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.2.46
*** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 258C
*** 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 148C
*** 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 177A
*** 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 189A

#### Inflection

* Comparative: μᾶλλον (mâllon)
* Superlative: μάλιστα (málista)

### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μάλα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 895-6

### Further reading

* “μάλα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “μάλα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “μάλα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* μάλα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* μάλα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* “μάλα”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. dearly idem, page 198.exceedingly idem, page 288.extremely idem, page 298.fairly idem, page 302.intensely idem, page 449.strongly idem, page 828.supremely idem, page 842.tremendously idem, page 893.utterly idem, page 941.very idem, page 949.