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
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /má.la/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈma.la/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈma.la/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈma.la/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /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
- (with adjectives)
- (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
- (simply strengthening the word with which it stands)
Inflection
- Comparative: μᾶλλον (mâllon)
- Superlative: μάλιστα (málista)
References
- “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.
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN