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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

mala.

A single lobe of an insect's maxilla.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈmeɪ.lə/
  1. A single lobe of an insect's maxilla.

  2. The grinding surface of an insect's mandible.

  3. The third segment of a mandible of some myriapods.

Where this word comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin māla (“the cheekbone, jaw”).

noun/ˈmɑːlɑː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɑlɑ/General-American
  1. A bead or a set of beads commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists for keeping count while reciting, chanting, or mentally repeating a mantra or the name or names of a deity.

    Hinduism · Sikhism
Where this word comes from

Transliteration of Sanskrit माला (mālā, “wreath, garland, crown”).

noun
  1. Synonym of rufous hare-wallaby.

Where this word comes from

From Western Desert Language, as Pitjantjatjara mala.

noun/ˈmɑːlɑː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɑlɑ/General-American
  1. A seasoning made from Sichuan pepper and chilis.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Mandarin 麻 (má) Mandarin 辣 (là) Mandarin 麻辣 (málà)bor. English mala Borrowed from Mandarin 麻辣 (málà).

noun/ˈmæl.ə/
  1. plural of malum

    form-of · plural
Where this word comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.