Perseus analyses of μάλ':

μάλα,μάλα (very, exceedingly): indeclform (adverb)
μάλαι,μάλη (arm-pit): fem nom/voc pl
μάλᾱ,μάλη (arm-pit): fem dat sg (doric aeolic)

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μάλα

μάλα [μᾰλᾰ; but Hom. sts. uses the ult. long before λ, Il. 3.214, 4.379; before μ, 10.172], Adv.

A. very, exceedingly, prefixed or subjoined to Adjectives, Verbs, and Adverbs:

1. strengthening the word with which it stands,

b. with Advs., πάγχυ μ., μ. πάγχυ, quite utterly, Il. 12.165, 14.143; πάνυ μ. Pl. Phd. 80c; εὖ μ. right well, Od. 22.190, Pl. Phd. 92d, etc.; μάλα . . εὖ Od. 23.175, cf. Pl. Tht. 156a; μάλʼ αὐτίκα (v. αὐτίκα) ; μάλʼ αἰεί for ever and aye, Il. 13.557, 23.717; ἄχρι μ. κνέφαος until quite dark, Od. 18.370; μάλʼ ὧδε just in this way, 6.258; μ. διαμπερές right through, Il. 20.362; μ. μόλις (v. μόλις); to express repeated action, μάλʼ αὖθις A. Ag. 1345, Ch. 654; μάλʼ αὖ S. El. 1410, etc.; μ. alone, ἔα, ἔα μ. A. Ch. 870; οἲ μ. καὶ τόδʼ ἀλγῶ Id. Pers. 1045 (lyr.); εἶα μ. Ar. Pax 460s q. (so ἄλλος πύργος . . , καὶ ἕτερος μ. ἐπὶ τούτῳ Hdt. 1.181, cf. 7.186): freq. after καί, αὗταί σʼ ὁδηγήσουσι καὶ μάλʼ ἀσμένως A. Pr. 728, cf. Ch. 879: with neg., μάλʼ οὐ, μάλʼ οὔ πως, Il. 2.241, Od. 5.103; οὐ μ. Hdt. 1.93, 2.37, S. Ph. 676 (lyr.).

2. strengthening an assertion, νῦν σε μ. χρὴ αἰχμητὴν ἔμεναι, i.e. now or never, Il. 16.492; τῷ κε μάλʼ ἤ κεν μεῖνε . . then doubtless he would have stayed, Od. 4.733; σοὶ δὲ μάλʼ ἕψομʼ ἐγώ yes indeed . . , Il. 10.108; ἀλλὰ μάλʼ ὤφελλες why plainly . . , Od. 4.472: freq. with another word, as ἦ μ. δή . . now in very truth, Il. 5.422, etc.; ἦ δή που μ. 21.583; freq. ἦ μ. (without δή) 3.204, etc.

3. in Hom. sts. after εἰ, as εἰ μ. μιν χόλος ἵκοι if wrath come on him ever so much, Il. 17.399, cf. Od. 5.485, al.; καὶ εἰ μ. τις πολεμίζοι Il. 9.318; also μ. περ c. part., μ. περ μεμαώς though desiring never so much, 13.317, cf. 14.58, 17.710, al.; καὶ μ. περ 1.217, cf. 17.571; καὶ εὐρέα περ μάλʼ ἐόντα Od. 18.385.

4. in Att. freq. in answers, yes, certainly, μ. γε Pl. R. 555d, 564e, etc.; μ. τοι X. Mem. 1.2.46; καὶ μ. Pl. Phdr. 258c; καὶ μ. γε Id. Tht. 148c, etc.; καὶ μ. δή ib.177a; καὶ μ. ἐπαύσατο certainly it stopped, Id. Smp. 189a, etc.

II. Comp. μᾶλλον [ᾱ by nature, Hdn.Gr.2.932], Ion. μάλιον [ᾰ] only in Tyrt. 12.6, cf. Choerob. in An.Ox. 2.240; late Dor. μαλλότερον Pempel. ap. Stob. 4.25.52:—more, rather, Il. 5.231, Od. 1.351, al.: mostly folld. by ἤ, but in Prose also by a gen., μ. τοῦ ξυμφέροντος more than is expedient, Antipho 5.1; μ. τοῦ δέοντος Pl. Grg. 487b, X. Mem. 4.3.8 (sts. expressed by μᾶλλον alone, Pl. Phd. 63d); οὐπώποτʼ ἔργου μ. εἱλόμην λόγους E. Fr. 394; παντὸς μ. most assuredly, Pl. Lg. 715d (v. infr. 8); in Id. Ap. 36d, οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅτι μ. πρέπει οὕτως, ὡς . . , ὡς is prob. = ἤ (v. ὡς): denoting a constant increase, more and more, sts. doubled, μ. μ. E. IT 1406, Ar. Ra. 1001 (lyr.), Alex. 29: in positive sense, exceedingly, κηρόθι μ. Il. 9.300, Od. 15.370, al.:—Usage:

2. sts. with a second Comp., ῥηΐτεροι μ. Il. 24.243, cf. Hdt. 1.32, A. Th. 673, Supp. 279, S. Ant. 1210, E. El. 222, Pl. Phd. 79e, Is. 4.14 (s.v.l.), Arist. Top. 116b24.

3. μᾶλλον δέ much more . . , or rather . . , to correct a statement already made, ὁ δεσπότης πέπραγεν εὐτυχέστατα, μ. δʼ ὁ Πλοῦτος αὐτός Ar. Pl. 634; πολλοί, μ. δὲ πάντες D. 18.65, cf. Pl. Smp. 173e; so ἢ μ. Corn. ND 20, Simp. in Ph. 25.16; οὐχὶ μ. ἤ . . not so, but rather so . . , Th. 2.87.

4. μ. δὲ καὶ ἡσυχαίτερα more or less violent, Id. 3.82.

5. οὐδὲν μ. none the more, ib.79; οὐδέν τι μ. Pl. Phd. 87d; μηδέν τι μ. ἤ . . S. Aj. 280.

7. τὸ μ. καὶ ἧττον, a form of argument, a fortiori, Arist. Rh. 1397b12.

8. παντὸς μ., v. πᾶς III.4.

III. Sup. μάλιστα most of all, above all, Hom., etc.; πᾶσι, μάλιστα δʼ ἐμοί Od. 21.353; μ. μὲν . . , ἔπειτα or ἔπειτα δέ . . , first and above all . . , next . . , S. OT 647, cf. Ph. 1285; μ. μὲν . . , δεύτερον δὲ . . Is. 2.20; μ. μὲν . . , εἰ δὲ μὴ . . Hdt. 8.22, Th. 1.40, Pl. R. 590d, D. 20.25, etc.; τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ μ. μὲν θάνατος, εἰ δὲ μή, πάντα τὰ ὄντα ἀφελέσθαι Id. 21.152; μάλιστα μὲν . . , μᾶλλον μέντοι . . Pl. Smp. 180b; μάλιστα . . , εἰ μὴ δʼ . . S. Ph. 617; δοκέων μιν μ. ταύτης ἂν πείθεσθαι certainly, Hdt. 3.53; τί μ.; what precisely? Pl. Grg. 448d, cf. Men. 80b, Smp. 218c: c. gen. partit., μ. πάντων Hdt. 2.37, Pl. Prt. 327a, cf. Th. 4.86; τὸ μ. πάντων the supreme reality, Plot. 5.5.11; τὸ μ. εἶναι the highest degree of being, Id. 6.2.7.

2. with the Art., ἐς τὰ μ. in the highest degree, Hdt. 1.20, 2.76, Th. 6.104, 8.6, D. 21.212: without ἐς, φίλοι τὰ μ. Hdt. 2.147, cf.Th. 1.92, D. 21.62; τά γε μ. Pl. Lg. 794d; εἰ τὰ μ. ἦσαν ἀληθεῖς if they were ever so true, D. 18.95; εἰ τὰ μ. μὴ τινές, ἀλλὰ πάντες . . if (to put an extreme case) not some, but all . . , Id. 20.2; εἰ . . δοκοίη τὰ μ. Id. 18.21; ἀνὴρ δόκιμος ὁμοῖα τῷ μ. as famous as he that is most [famous], Hdt. 7.118, cf. 3.8; τοῖς μάλισθʼ ὁμοίως D. Ep. 2.24.

4. μάλιστα for μᾶλλον, μ. τῆς κόρης E. IA[1594]; μ. ἤ ἐμοί A.R. 3.91.

6. in answers, most certainly, Ar. Pl. 827, etc.; μ. γε S. OT 994, Ar. Nu. 253; μ. πάντων Id. Av. 1531; πάντων μ. Pl. Grg. 453d; v. supr.1.4. (Orig. perh. fiercely, cf. μαλερός.)

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μάλη

μάλη [ᾰ], ἡ,

2. underhand, secretly, οὐδʼ ὑπὸ μ. ἡ πρόκλησις γέγονεν, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ μέσῃ D. 29.12, cf. D.C. 46.23.