A prefix appearing in nouns of OF origin: maleaventure, malecheif, Malebouche, malefortune, malengine, malese, malfetour, maltalent, maudisour, etc.; occasionally in adjectives: malapert, maleureux, malgracious, etc.; rarely in verbs: e.g. malasen. In some instances, the word is from Latin, e.g. maledighten, malefactour; in others, from either Latin or OF: malediccion, malefaccioun, malefice, malevolence. A few of the prefixed forms may be ME formations: malatente, malefactif, malgise. The bond between mal- and the second element may in some cases such as ~ chaunce, ~ engine, ~ entente, ~ ese, or ~ grace be loose enough that the combination is better regarded as a phrase, and the first element as an adjective or adverb.