malla

See also: Malla and mallá

Aragonese

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *macla (“mesh”), from Latin macula (“spot, stain”).

Noun

malla f

1. angioma
2. little spot, stain
3. mesh

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ˈma.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈma.ʎa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *macla (“mesh”), from Latin macula (“spot, stain”). Doublet of màcula, a learned borrowing.

Noun

malla f (plural malles)

1. mesh, netting
2. (in the plural) tights, leggings
3. (historical) mail

Derived terms

• emmallar
• mallat
• mallatge

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Catalan mealla~mesala, from Early Medieval Latin medālia.

Noun

malla f (plural malles)

1. type of coin worth half a diner
2. pellitory (Parietaria officinalis)

Etymology 3

Verb

malla

1. inflection of mallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• “malla”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “malla”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “malla” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “malla”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

cota de mallas

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɟa/ [ˈma̠.ɟɐ]
• Rhymes: -aɟa
• Hyphenation: ma‧lla

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese malla (13th century, Alfonso X), borrowed from Old French maille (“mesh, loop”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“stain”). Doublet of mágoa and malla.

Noun

malla f (plural mallas)

1. (uncountable) mesh (structure made of connected strands of metal, fiber, or other flexible/ductile material, with evenly spaced openings between them)
2. (fashion) knitting; knitwear
3. (uncountable) mail
4. link (of a chain or mail)

   Synonym: elo

Derived terms

• cota de malla
• desmallar
• enmallar

Etymology 2

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“stain”). Doublet of mágoa.

Noun

malla f (plural mallas)

1. (dated) blemish

   Synonyms: mancha, tacha

   Esta mazá non ten unha malla preta!

   This apple have no blemish!

   (literally, “This apple have not a black spot!”)

Etymology 3

Attested since the 15th century. Deverbal from mallar (“to thresh”).

malla reenactment

Noun

malla f (plural mallas)

1. threshing
2. a beating

   Synonym: malleira

Related terms

• mallar

Etymology 4

Verb

malla

1. inflection of mallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “malha”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “malla”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “malla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “malla”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “malla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• Carlos Lixó, "Outra avoa no reintegracionismo", in Nós diario.

Hamer-Banna

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Amharic መሐላ (mäḥäla, “oath”).

Noun

malla (plural mallana, feminine mallano)

1. oath, covenant
   • 2014, SIM International, Haalin Mallano [New Testament], Digital Bible Society, Maatoos 26:28:

     Kono thoothin eensa seesonam shiishanna laymayno haalin mallanam eshkayno isa zombhinone.

     This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

   • 2014, SIM International, Haalin Mallano [New Testament], Digital Bible Society, Maatoos 5:33:

     "Pir ena wodanka dohon eenna 'Buudaka malleebhode. Barjona hanin imon mallan upsinam hayaa' hambhonam yedi qansidine.

     "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.'

2. testament (of the bible)

   Haalin Mallano ― New Testament

Icelandic

Verb

malla

1. (cooking) to simmer (cook at a low heat)

   Leyfðu sósunni bara að malla. ― Just let the sauce to simmer a bit.

2. (informal) to let something sit (to slowly do its work)

   Stífluhreinsirinn verður aðeins að fá að malla. ― The drain cleaner has to sit for a bit.

3. (figurative, informal) to let something sit and not be worked on

   Tillagan hefur verið látin malla í einhverjum nefndum í mörg ár. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Irish

Adjective

malla

1. inflection of mall:
   1. nominative/vocative/dative plural
   2. strong genitive plural

Mutation

Mutated forms of malla

radical	lenition	eclipsis
malla	mhalla	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀫𑀮𑁆𑀮 (Brahmi script)
• मल्ल (Devanagari script)
• মল্ল (Bengali script)
• මල‍්ල (Sinhalese script)
• မလ္လ or မလ်လ (Burmese script)
• มลฺล or มัลละ (Thai script)
• ᨾᩃᩖ (Tai Tham script)
• ມລ຺ລ or ມັລລະ (Lao script)
• មល្ល (Khmer script)
• 𑄟𑄣𑄳𑄣 (Chakma script)

Noun

malla m

1. wrestler
2. a man of the Malla clan

Declension

Declension table of "malla" (masculine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	mallo	mallā
Accusative (second)	mallaṃ	malle
Instrumental (third)	mallena	mallehi or mallebhi
Dative (fourth)	mallassa or mallāya or mallatthaṃ	mallānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	mallasmā or mallamhā or mallā	mallehi or mallebhi
Genitive (sixth)	mallassa	mallānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	mallasmiṃ or mallamhi or malle	mallesu
Vocative (calling)	malla	mallā

Spanish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaʝa/ [ˈma.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaʝa/ [ˈma.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈmaʎa/ [ˈma.ʎa] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ˈmaʃa/ [ˈma.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈmaʒa/ [ˈma.ʒa] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈmaja/ [ˈma.ja] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -aʝa

• Rhymes: -aʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -aʎa (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -aʒa (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -aja (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: ma‧lla

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French maille, from Latin macula.

Noun

malla f (plural mallas)

1. mesh, net
2. (in the plural) tights, leggings
3. strap handle
4. a bag made of thin plastic cords

   Synonym: pilgua

Derived terms

• cota de malla

Further reading

• “malla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Etymology 2

Verb

malla

1. inflection of mallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative