mal
/mæl/noun
mal is spelled M-A-L: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mal means “illness, affliction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mal is mals.
How many letters and syllables are in mal?
| Letters | 3: M-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mal?
Mal appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mal?
- /mæl/
Mal has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mal.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mal-.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with mal?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as mal.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lam, alm.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mal
- mals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
illness, affliction.
a grand mal seizure
- 2
A longboard (type of surfboard).
- 3
informalA malleolus.
lateral mal
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does mal come from?
Borrowed from French mal (“illness”). Doublet of malus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).