An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Mal

by Friedrich Kluge

Mal (1.), neuter, ‘mark, spot,’ from Middle High German mâl, neuter, ‘spot,’ Old High German *mâl in the compound anamâli, ‘spot, car’; identical with Middle High German and Old High German mâl, ‘period, point’; see mal (2). Its primitive kinship with Gothic mail, neuter, ‘spot,’ is uncertain, yet Mal has at all events assumed the meaning of Gothic mail, which is normally represented by Old High German and Middle High German meil, neuter; to this corresponds Anglo-Saxon mâl, whence English mole. Gothic mél, ‘time,’ points to the Aryan root mē̆, ‘to measure’ (Greek μέτρον, Latin mêtîri).