mălai

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

Romanian

Etymology

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

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

Declension of mălai

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) mălai	mălaiul	(niște) mălaie	mălaiele
genitive/dative	(unui) mălai	mălaiului	(unor) mălaie	mălaielor
vocative	mălaiule		mălaielor

See also

• făină

References

• mălai in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
• mălai in Alexandru Ciorănescu, Dicționarul etimologic român, Tenerife: Universidad de la Laguna, 1958–66.