# mau
## Barunggam
### Noun

mau
* head

### Further reading

* Barunggam body parts

## Bourguignon
### Etymology 1

From Latin malus.

#### Adjective

mau (feminine maule, masculine plural maus, feminine plural maules, comparative peire, superlative peire)
* bad

##### Synonyms

* mauvois

##### Antonyms

* bon

##### Derived terms

* maufleit
* mauroge
* mauvoillance
* mauvoillant

### Etymology 2

From Latin male.

#### Adverb

mau (comparative peis, superlative peis)
* bad

### Etymology 3

From Latin malus.

#### Noun

mau m (plural maus, antonym bein)
* evil

##### Antonyms

* bein

## Finnish
### Etymology

Onomatopoeic

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmɑu̯/, [ˈmɑ̝u̯]
* Rhymes: -ɑu
* Hyphenation: mau

### Interjection

mau
* the sound a cat makes; meow

### Further reading

* “mau”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

### Anagrams

* -uma, mua

## German
### Etymology

Probably a blend of matt +‎ flau, maybe with influence from mauen in the older sense of "to be weepy/annoying."

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /maʊ̯/
* Rhymes: -aʊ̯
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

mau (strong nominative masculine singular mauer, comparative mauer, superlative am mauesten or am mausten) (informal)
* unwell, queasy, poorly, ill
    Synonyms: unwohl, schlecht
    Mir ist mau. ― I feel queasy/ill/poorly.
    Ich fühle mich mau. ― I feel queasy/ill/poorly.
* disappointing, bad, meagre (below expectations, either in quantity or quality, though typically not catastrophic)
    Synonym: dürftig
    Die Lage ist mau. ― The situation is bad.
    Die Ergebnisse sind mau. ― The results are poor.

#### Declension
### Adverb

mau (comparative mauer, superlative am mausten)
* badly, bad
* slack
    Die Geschäfte gehen mau. ― Business is slack.

### Further reading

* “mau” in Duden online
* “mau” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Guinea-Bissau Creole
### Etymology

Inherited from Portuguese mau, from Old Galician-Portuguese mao, from Latin malus. Cognate with Kabuverdianu mau.

### Adjective

mau
* bad, evil, dangerous

#### Related terms

* mal

## Hawaiian
### Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈmau̯/, [ˈmɐw], [ˈmɔw] (rapid speech)

### Particle

mau
* Plural marker of nouns, used after he, determiners, and numerals.
    he mau lio ― horses
    kēlā mau hale ― those houses
    ko lākou mau kūpuna ― their grandparents

### Verb

mau
* (stative) always, perpetual
* (stative) to continue

## Indonesian
### Alternative forms

* maoe (van Ophuijsen (1901–1947))

### Etymology

Inherited from Malay mahu. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Indonesian) IPA: /ˈmau̯/ [ˈmau̯]
* Rhymes: -au̯
* Syllabification: mau

### Verb

mau
* to want
    Synonym: ingin
** (transitive) to wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave or demand
    Synonym: hendak
    Kamu mau makan apa?.What do you want to eat?
    Saya mau kamu meninggalkan kelas ini.I want you to leave this class.
** (transitive, in particular) to wish, desire, or demand to see, have the presence of or do business with
    Synonym: inginkan
    Aku mau sarapan yang manis.I want a sweet breakfast
    Dia mau pakaian baru.He wants new clothes.
** (intransitive) to experience desire; to wish
    Kamu boleh meninggalkan ruangan ini jika kamu mau.You can leave this room if you want.
* (auxiliary) to will
** (somewhat informal) used to express the future tense, sometimes with an implication of volition or determination when used in the first person
    Synonyms: hendak, akan
    Ibu mau pergi ke pasar untuk membeli bahan makanan.Mother will go to the market to buy food.
** to be able to, to have the capacity
** used to express intention but without any temporal connotations, often in questions and negation
    Maukah kamu menikahiku?Will you marry me?
    Aku sudah memberitahukan dia berkali-kali, tapi dia tetap tak mau meminum obatnya.I've told him many times, but he still doesn't want to take his medicine.

### Noun

mau
* wish; desire (a hope or longing for something or for something to happen)
    Synonyms: keinginan, kemauan, kehendak

#### Derived terms

* berkemauan
* kemauan
* mau-mau
* maui
* maukan
* semau
* semau-maunya
* mau tidak mau

## Iu Mien
### Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *mlu̯ɛjH (“soft”). Cognate with White Hmong mos.

### Adjective

mau
* soft

## Japanese
### Romanization

mau
* Rōmaji transcription of まう

## Kabuverdianu
### Etymology

From Portuguese mau.

### Adjective

mau
* bad

#### Related terms

* mal

## Macanese
### Etymology

From Portuguese mau, probably with some semantic influence from Portuguese mal as well.

### Adjective

mau (comparative pió)
* bad
    Êle qui mau coraçám ― He is so evil (literally, “He is so bad heart”)
    mau repente ― impulsive; rash action inspired by a bad temper

### References

* https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm

## Malay
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* Rhymes: -u

### Verb

mau
* (informal, auxiliary) Contraction of mahu.

## Occitan
### Pronunciation

* Audio (Gascony):(file)

### Adjective

mau m (feminine singular mala, masculine plural maus, feminine plural malas)
* (Gascony) bad
* (Gascony) evil

### Adverb

mau
* (Gascony, Niçard) bad, badly

#### Derived terms

* trobà's mau

### Noun

mau m (plural maus)
* (Gascony) evil
* (Gascony) illness

#### Derived terms

* maishant mau
* mau d'orelh
* mau de cap
* mau de còr
* mau de còth
* mau de ganurra
* mau de mar

### References

* Patric Guilhemjoan, Diccionari elementari occitan-francés francés-occitan (gascon), 2005, Orthez, per noste, 2005, →ISBN, p. 93

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese mao, from Latin malus, from Proto-Italic. Cognate with Galician mao and Spanish malo.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈmaw/ [ˈmaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈmaw/
* Rhymes: -aw
* Homophone: mal (Brazil)
* Hyphenation: mau
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

mau (feminine má, masculine plural maus, feminine plural más, comparable, comparative pior, superlative péssimo)
* bad
    Ele é um mau condutor. ― He is a bad driver.
    Ela tem maus hábitos. ― She has bad habits.
* evil, wicked
    Caim era mau. ― Cain was evil.
* harmful

#### Derived terms

* má-criação
* má-formação
* mau-olhado
* maus-tratos

#### Related terms

* mal
* mal-
* maldade
* maldição
* maltratar

#### Descendants

* Guinea-Bissau Creole: mau
* Kabuverdianu: mau
* Macanese: mau

### Noun

mau m (plural maus)
* a bad person
    Junta-te aos bons e serás melhor que eles; junta-te aos maus e serás pior que eles.Hang out with good people and you'll be better than them; hang out with bad people and you'll be worse than them.

### References

* ↑ “mau”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* ↑ “mau”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Rapa Nui
### Adjective

mau
* supreme

#### Derived terms

* ꞌariki mau

## Samoan
### Noun

mau
* opinion

## Southwestern Dinka
### Etymology

Cognate with Belanda Bor miyo (“tsetse fly”).

### Noun

mau
* tsetse fly

### References

* Dinka-English Dictionary‎, 2005

## Tahitian
### Particle

mau
* plural marker after a noun; many, much

### Verb

mau
* hold

## Ternate
### Etymology

From Malay mahu (“to want”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈma.u/

### Verb

mau
* (transitive) to want

#### Alternative forms

* mawu

### References

* Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

## Tok Pisin
### Etymology

From Tolai mau (“banana”).

### Adjective

mau
* ripe.

### References

* SARMENTO, Leila Lauar. Gramática em textos. 2nd edition. São Paulo, Brazil: Moderna, 2005.

## Vietnamese
### Etymology

Cognate with Muong bau (“dense, thick”), Chut [Cuối Chăm] baw¹ and Arem ubaw ("thick").

### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [maw˧˧]
* (Huế) IPA: [maw˧˧]
* (Saigon) IPA: [ma(ː)w˧˧]

### Adjective

mau • (毛, 㕰, 𣭻, 牟, 哞, 󱦰)
* (now only in certain phrases and expressions) dense
* (by extension) fast, quick

#### Derived terms

* lược mau
* mau chóng
* mau lẹ
* mau mắn (từ láy)
* mau miệng ăn, thưa miệng nói
* mau nước mắt
* mau sao thì nắng, vắng sao thì mưa

### Adverb

mau • (毛, 㕰, 𣭻, 牟, 哞, 󱦰)
* fast, quickly
    Synonym: nhanh

### See also

* chóng
* lẹ

## Yanomam
### Alternative forms

* mãu

### Noun

mau
* water

#### Usage notes

Does not occur alone, but must be bound with a classifier; see mau u.

### References

* Perri Ferreira, Helder (2017) Yanomama Clause Structure‎, volume 1, Utrecht: LOT, →ISBN, page 112
* B. Albert, G. Gomez, Saúde Yanomami: um manual etnolingüístico (1997), page 233: mãu u
* HG 1 [maup] (see also ASJP 1 [maup], ASJP 2 [mau; maup3, using '3' for 'ə'])

## Yanomamö
### Noun

mau
* Alternative form of mãũ (“water”)