# mál
## Faroese
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mɔɑːl/
* Rhymes: -ɔaːl

### Etymology 1

From Old Norse mál, from Proto-Germanic *maþlą.

#### Noun

mál n (genitive singular máls, plural mál)
* language
* speech
* talk
* matter
* (law) cause

##### Derived terms

* endamál
* vandamál
* loyndarmál
* fiskivinnumál
* fíggjarmál
* skattamál
* rættarmál
* bergmál
* tungumál
* talumál
* skriftmál
* bundið mál
* óbundið mál
* málsgrein
* mállæra
* málnevnd

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse mál, from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, whence also English meal. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root *meh₁- (“to measure”).

#### Noun

mál n (genitive singular máls, plural mál)
* measurement, size

##### Derived terms

* ummál

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mauːl/
    Rhymes: -auːl

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Norse mál, from Proto-Germanic *maþlą.

#### Noun

mál n (genitive singular máls, nominative plural mál)
* language
    Synonyms: tunga, tungumál, (chiefly archaic) sprok
* speech
    Synonyms: málfar, tungutak, mæli
* matter, affair
* (law) cause
* (informal) a big deal

##### Derived terms

* barnamál
* ekkert mál
    ekkert mál fyrir Jón Pál
* gælumál
* áhugamál
* forritunarmál
* ritmál
* smalamál
* tungumál
* fara ekki á milli mála

##### Related terms

* mæla

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Norse mál, from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, whence also English meal. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root *meh₁- (“to measure”).

#### Noun

mál n (genitive singular máls, nominative plural mál)
* measurements, size, dimensions
    Synonym: mæling
* a system of measurement
    Synonym: mælikerfi
* the appropriate time for something
    Er ekki mál að fara?Isn't it time to go?
* a meal, mealtime
    Synonym: máltíð

##### Derived terms

* taka mál, taka mál af
* mál til komið
* vera mál
* milli mála
* flatarmál

##### Related terms

* mæla

## Old Norse
### Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *maþlą, whence also Old Saxon mahal, Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌸𐌻 (maþl).

#### Noun

mál n
* language
* speech
* matter, affair
* (poetry) syntactic unit, sentence
* (law) cause

##### Derived terms

* bragarmál (“contraction of unstressed words”, literally “poetic speech”)

##### Descendants

* Icelandic: mál
* Faroese: mál
* Norwegian Bokmål: mål
* Old Swedish: māl
** Swedish: mål
* Danish: mål
* → Old English: māl (“speech, contract, agreement”)
** Middle English: mal, male
*** English: mail
*** Scots: mail

### Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *mēlą (“measure, time, occasion”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root *meh₁- (“to measure”). Cognate with Old English mǣl, Old Frisian mēl, Old Saxon māl, Old High German māl, Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌻 (mēl, “time, hour”).

#### Noun

mál n (genitive máls, plural mál)
* measurement, size
* season; a quarter of a year
** c. 1180, Rímbegla:í misseri eru mál tvau, í máli eru mánuðr þrírin a half-year there are two seasons, in a seasons there are three months
* time
    mál es at etait is time to eat
* (Low German influence) meal, mealtime

##### Descendants

* Icelandic: mál n
* Faroese: mál n
* Norwegian Nynorsk: mål n
* Swedish: mål n
* Danish: mål n
** Norwegian Bokmål: mål n

### Etymology 3

From the same Germanic source as Old Saxon māl and Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌻 (mēl), probably Proto-Germanic *mēlijaną, used by Ulfilas to translate Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ) and γράμμα (grámma). Related to Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (mēljan) (translating Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “draw, write”)) and German malen (“to paint”).

#### Noun

mál n
* a work of art inlaid in metal, especially on weapons