μάλα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μᾰ́λ’ (mắl’) (apocopic form)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /má.la/ → /ˈma.la/ → /ˈma.la/

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

Adverb

μᾰ́λᾰ • (mắlă)

1. very, very much, exceedingly
   1. (simply strengthening the word with which it stands)
      1. (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
      2. (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
      3. (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
   2. (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
   3. (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
   4. (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)

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^[1], 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.