Etymologically
Log in

mal

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 17:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

mal (adverb, invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening of einmal, which was itself formed in the 16th century from the accusative phrase meaning “one time”, with the noun Mal1 “point in time”.[2][1][3] The multiplication sense comes directly from the noun, isolated from reckoning phrases of the 15th century.[3] That noun is inherited from Middle High German māl, inherited from Old High German māl (“point in time”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, the same word as Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌻 (mēl, “time, hour”), Old English mǣl and English meal; it is derived from the root Proto-Indo-European *mē- (“to measure”).[4][3][5]

Before the adverb was written as one word, older German used phrases with a preposition or the genitive, such as Old High German zi einemo māle and Middle High German eines māles.[3][6] In the same way the noun forms the second part of zweimal, damals, jemals, niemals and zumal.[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The multiplication use is recorded in the 15th century, in reckoning phrases such as zu wunfczen malen wunfczen, and the verb malnehmen “to multiply” in the 18th century.[3] The temporal adverb einmal is attested from the 16th century, and mal is its colloquial short form.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

As a short form of einmal, mal first meant “once, at some time”, of the past or the future, as in G. A. Bürger's es war mal ein kaiser “there once was an emperor” and Goethe's Wenn ich 'mal ungeduldig werde, / Denk' ich an die Geduld der Erde.[2]

Paul explains how it became a modal particle: what was presented as something to do just once, or “when it comes up”, could later be taken as a trifle, so that from the 18th century mal signals that the speaker regards the matter as small.[2] In this function it softens statements, questions and commands, as in Wieland's nun stellen sie sich mal vor “now just imagine”.[2][1] It also forms fixed groups with other particles, such as erst mal, noch mal, nun mal and nicht mal “not even”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old High German nū zi māle “for now” is recorded.[3]
  • 15th century – mal is used in multiplication.[3]
  • 16th century – einmal is written as one word.[3][6]
  • 18th century – mal is used as a softening particle.[2]
  • 18th century – The verb malnehmen “to multiply” is formed.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (mathematics) times, multiplied by: drei mal vier ist zwölf.[7][1]
  2. (colloquial) Short for einmal: once, at some time, ever: warst du schon mal in Rom?[7][1]

Particle

  1. (colloquial) Softens a request, command or statement: gib mir mal das Salz, schau mal.[1][2]
  2. (colloquial) In fixed groups such as nicht mal “not even” and nun mal “after all, simply”.[2]

Word family

  • malnehmen
  • Malrechnung
  • schon mal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 595
  5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 227
  7. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag