малый

Inherited from Old East Slavic малъ (malŭ), from Proto-Slavic *malъ, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal-, *(s)mel-, whence English small.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmaɫɨj]

• Audio:

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ма́лый • (mályj) (comparative (по)ме́ньше, superlative мале́йший or ме́ньший, adverb ма́ло, abstract noun ма́лость, diminutive ма́ленький or малю́сенький)

1. small, little
2. short

• The short form should not be conflated with the adjective мал (mal, “too small”), which has lexicalized as a short-form-only adjective in its own right.
• Special short forms are found in the following expressions:
  • от ма́ла до вели́ка ― ot mála do velíka ― all ages (literally, “from small to big”)

    ма́ла (mála) and вели́ка (velíka) are old short genitives.

  • ку́ча мала́ ― kúča malá ― pile of people; disorderly heap (literally, “small pile”)

    мала́ f (malá) is an old short attributive adjective.

  • мал мала́ ме́ньше ― mal malá ménʹše ― one smaller than the next (literally, “small small smaller”)

    мал m (mal) and мала́ f (malá) are old short attributive adjectives.

Compound words:

Compounds:

ма́лый • (mályj) m anim (genitive ма́лого, nominative plural ма́лые, genitive plural ма́лых)

1. fellow, guy, chap

   Synonyms: па́рень (párenʹ), ю́ноша m (júnoša)

   • 1882, Антон Чехов [Anton Chekhov], chapter I, in Живой товар; English translation from Constance Garnett, transl., A Living Chattel, 1922:

     В гости́ную вошёл высо́кий широкопле́чий ма́лый, лет тридцати́, в чино́вничьем вицмунди́ре.

     V gostínuju vošól vysókij širokopléčij mályj, let tridcatí, v činóvničʹjem vicmundíre.

     A tall, broad-shouldered man of thirty, in the uniform of a government clerk, had walked into the drawing-room.

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “малый”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Chernykh, P. Ja. (1999), “малый”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volume 1 (а – пантомима), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 505

• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “малый”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.