mal-

1. a combining form meaning “bad,” “wrongful,” “ill,” occurring originally in loanwords from French (malapert); on this model, used in the formation of other words (malfunction; malcontent).

combining form

1. bad or badly; wrong or wrongly; imperfect or defectivemaladjusted; malfunction

word-forming element meaning “bad, badly, ill, poorly, wrong, wrongly,” from French mal (adv.), from Old French mal (adj., adv.) “evil, ill, wrong, wrongly” (9c.), from Latin male (adv.) “badly,” or malus (adj.) “bad, evil” (fem. mala, neuter malum), of unknown origin, perhaps related to Avestan mairiia “treacherous.” Most Modern English words with this prefix are 19c. coinages. pref.

1. Bad; badly:malpractice.
2. Abnormal; abnormally:malformation.