See also: malai, malaí, málaí, Mǎlái, and mal aí

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Possibly from Late Dacian *mellája, from Dacian *melwá-ja, from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂-wo-yo- (consisting of flour), from *melh₂-wo- (flour), from *melh₂- (to grind), or some other Paleo-Balkanic substrate. Compare Albanian miell and Hungarian málé. Other theories include Latin amylum + the suffix -alium. More likely is some connection with mămăligă, perhaps through contraction of a variant *mămălaie.

Noun edit

mălai n (plural mălaie)

  1. cornflour
    Synonym: făină de porumb
  2. (regional) millet flour
    Synonym: făină de mei
  3. any cereal
  4. Romanian cornbread
  5. (botany) hairy woodrush (Luzula pilosa)
  6. (botany) field woodrush (Luzula campestris)
  7. (botany, regional) kochia
    Synonym: mătură
  8. (archaic, Moldavia (region), Transylvania) millet, millet grains
    Synonyms: mei, boabe de mei
  9. (regional) millet, millet grains
    Synonyms: porumb, boabe de porumb
  10. (slang) money, dosh, dough

Declension edit

See also edit

References edit