An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Mal

by Friedrich Kluge

Mal (1.), n., ‘mark, spot,’ from MidHG. mâl, n., ‘spot,’ OHG. *mâl in the compound anamâli, ‘spot, car’; identical with MidHG. and OHG. mâl, ‘period, point’; see mal (2). Its primit. kinship with Goth. mail, n., ‘spot,’ is uncertain, yet Mal has at all events assumed the meaning of Goth. mail, which is normally represented by OHG. and MidHG. meil, n.; to this corresponds AS. mâl, whence E. mole. Goth. mél, ‘time,’ points to the Aryan root mē̆, ‘to measure’ (Gr. μέτρον, Lat. mêtîri).