Question:medium

Directions: Choose the correct meaning for each of the foreign language words and phrases given below.
malus

Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • mass
  • harmless
  • harmful
  • comforting
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

A quick way to work out "malus" is to think of all the everyday English words that start with the prefix "mal-," since nearly all of them carry a negative, damaging sense.

Consider "malfunction," when a machine works badly, "malnutrition," when someone is poorly fed, "malpractice," when a professional acts badly or carelessly, and "malodorous," when something smells bad. In every one of these, "mal-" adds the sense of "bad" or "badly" to the word that follows it. Since "malus" is the Latin word this prefix comes from, its own core meaning has to be the same: bad, or in a slightly stronger everyday word, harmful.

This immediately rules out "comforting" and "mass," which have nothing to do with this "mal-" family, and also rules out "harmless," since that is the exact opposite of what the "mal-" prefix signals in every one of these examples.

Recognizing the "mal-" pattern across common English words points straight to the meaning of the Latin root behind it.

So, the correct answer is harmful.

Was this answer helpful?
0
Show Solution

Approach Solution -2

Since Latin sits behind most modern European languages, comparing "malus" to its direct cousins in languages many students already recognize a little of helps confirm its meaning.

  1. Option A, "mass": Spanish, Italian, and French have no word resembling "malus" that means mass or bulk, so this option has no cognate support.
  2. Option B, "harmless": Spanish "malo," Italian "male" or "malo," and French "mal" all mean "bad," the opposite of harmless. If "malus" meant harmless, its descendants in these languages would have flipped to mean the opposite of what they actually mean today, which doesn't happen with such a stable, everyday word.
  3. Option C, "harmful": Spanish "malo," Italian "male," and French "mal," all descended from "malus," consistently mean "bad," the same sense as "harmful." English "malaria" literally comes from Italian "mal aria," bad air, showing the same core meaning carried into English.
  4. Option D, "comforting": None of these Romance-language descendants of "malus" carry any sense of comfort or reassurance; they all point the other way, toward something bad or damaging.

Since every modern language descended from Latin keeps "malus" meaning "bad," the option matching that sense, harmful, is the correct one.

So, the correct answer is harmful.

Was this answer helpful?
0

Top Questions on Synonyms and Antonyms

Questions Asked in CLAT exam

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
View Solution
Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. In establishing a social order on this pattern, there was a strong possibility of a conflict arising between diverse groups and classes of our own people.

According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
View Solution
Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
View Solution