malho

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• manle (Minho)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ʎu/

• Rhymes: -aʎu
• Hyphenation: ma‧lho

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin malleus (“hammer; mallet”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”).

Noun

malho m (plural malhos)

1. sledgehammer

   Synonym: marreta

2. (Portugal, informal) a fall

   Synonyms: queda, (Portugal, informal) tralho

Related terms

• dar um malho
• malhação
• malhado
• malhador
• malhadouro
• malhar
• malhete

Etymology 2

From older *malhe (“flail”), from Latin manualis (“manual”), influenced by Latin malleus (“hammer”). Cognate with mangual.

Noun

malho m (plural malhos)

1. flail
2. handle of the flail

Etymology 3

Verb

malho

1. first-person singular present indicative of malhar

Further reading

• “malho”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “malho”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025