Word origins

• madrigalesqueReminiscent of a madrigal.
• madrileneA type of consommé flavored with tomatoes and served either as a warm broth or chilled and jellied.
• MagdalenianRelating to the late Paleolithic culture typical of La Madeleine, c. 17000 to 12000 BCE.
• magic squareA palindromic square word arrangement, usually in the form of a magic amulet.
• magnaneryA silkworm farm.
• magotThe Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco along with a small population of uncertain origin in Gibraltar.
• magretThe breast meat of the mulard duck, known for its superior quality.
• MahéA small town in Mahé district in the union territory of Puducherry, India.
• Mahone BayA bay in Lunenburg county, south shore of Nova Scotia peninsula, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the Atlantic Ocean.
• MahoraisA person from Mayotte or of Mahoran descent.
• MahoranOf, from, or pertaining to Mayotte or its people or language.
• maigreMade without meat (and thus permitted to be eaten on a fast day).
• maillechortNickel silver.
• main droiteIn musical notation, an instruction for the pianist to use the right hand.
• Maine-et-LoireA department of Pays de la Loire, France. Capital: Angers.
• maison de passeA low-class hotel where rooms are rented out by the hour, especially to prostitutes and their clients.
• maison de toléranceA licensed brothel.
• maître d'A headwaiter.
• maître d'hôtelSynonym of maître d' (“headwaiter”).
• maîtresse en titreAn open or official mistress.
• majorantA function, or an element of a set, that dominates others or is greater than all others.
• majoratprimogeniture
• majoritarilymostly; predominantly.
• majusculeA capital letter, especially one used in ancient manuscripts.
• make common causeTo cooperate, to enter into an alliance for a shared goal.
• Malad CityA small city, the county seat of Oneida County, Idaho, United States.
• maladie du paysHomesickness.
• maladifSickly.
• maladioussickly
• malandersA crusty rash in the bend of the knee of the foreleg of a horse.
• malapropismThe blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one.
• malaproposout of place; inappropriate
• mal de merseasickness
• maldevelopmentThe state of an organism or an organisation that did not develop in the "normal" way (used in medicine, e.g. "brain maldevelopment of a fetus").
• mal du payshomesickness
• mal du siècleApathy and world-weariness, involving pessimism towards the current state of the world, often along with nostalgia for the past, originally in the context of French Romanticism; Weltschmerz.
• mal du SuisseNostalgia or homesickness.
• malfeasantOf or relating to malfeasance or misconduct.
• malgré luiContrary to their desires or ambitions.
• Malheur CountyOne of 36 counties in Oregon, United States. County seat: Vale.
• malingerTo feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk.
• MalingreA surname from French.
• mallemarokingThe act of carousing on icebound Greenland whaling ships.
• malletierA manufacturer of trunks (containers).
• mal mariéeA young woman with a much older, jealous, and controlling husband, especially as a literary motif in medieval European romances.
• MalouinesFalkland Islands.
• Maltese sauceHollandaise sauce with blanched orange zest and the juice of blood orange.
• malversationCorrupt behaviour, illegitimate activity, especially by someone in authority.
• malveuilleTo disrespect. To wish ill on someone.
• mamelièreA circular armor plate (of metal, leather, etc) worn over the breast of a fighter to hold chains to which the sword, dagger, or helmet could be attached, so as to be recoverable if knocked from the fighter.
• mamelonA hillock; a rounded elevation or protuberance.
• MamereA surname from French.
• mammisia subsidiary chapel in Ancient Egypt attached to a larger temple and associated with the nativity of a god
• mamuquebird of paradise
• MandardA surname from French.
• mandarinateThe status of holding a position as a mandarin.
• mandoreAn early form of lute that gave rise to the mandolin.
• mandrinA metal wire or stylet inserted into a flexible catheter to give it shape and firmness while passing through a hollow tubular structure.
• -maneForming compound nouns with the sense of person who has a mania for.
• manègeThe art of training and riding horses; dressage.
• ManevalA surname from French.
• manfraA French comic (bande dessinée) inspired by Japanese manga.
• mangetoutA vegetable pea (Pisum sativum) eaten when immature.
• mangousteA mongoose.
• mangueThe cusimanse, a genus of mongoose, Crossarchus.
• maniferA large gauntlet worn over the bridle hand during jousting tournaments.
• manifestantA protester; someone participating in a protest.
• manilleThe second-highest trump in certain card games.
• man of lawA lawyer, a lawman.
• man of lettersA literary man; a scholar or author.
• manquéUnfulfilled due to the vagary of circumstance, some inherent flaw or a constitutional lack.
• manteauA cloak or gown, especially of a kind popular with women in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• manutentionMaintenance, upkeep of a person, place or thing.
• manutergeA towel used by a priest during liturgy.
• maquisardA member of a resistance or guerrilla movement, originally and chiefly that of the French during the German occupation of 1940-5.
• maraboutA Muslim holy man or mystic, especially in parts of North Africa.
• maraudTo move about in roving fashion looking for plunder; to loiter.
• MarcadeA surname from French.
• MarcadetA surname from French.
• marcassinA young wild boar.
• MarcellineA female given name from French.
• MarcetteA female given name from French.
• MarchessaultA surname from French.
• MarciacA commune and town in the French department of Gers, administrative region of Occitania, France.
• mardi grasThe day when traditionally all fat and meat in the house were finished up, before Christians were banned from eating them during Lent, which commenced the following day on Ash Wednesday.
• maréchausséeA type of guard force in France, French colonies, or sometimes by extension other places, commanded by a marshal (formerly used as a police force before the introduction of the gendarmerie); loosely (chiefly humorous), the police, the constabulary.
• margaricPertaining to pearl or pearls (rare except in the designation of margaric acid)
• margelineA type of herb referred to by Pliny as "asyla"; potentially chickweed or ivy-leaved speedwell.
• mari complaisantA husband who tolerates his spouse's adultery.
• Marie-GalanteAn island in the archipelago of Guadeloupe.
• Maries CountyOne of 114 counties in Missouri, United States. County seat: Vienna.
• marietA kind of bellflower, Campanula trachelium.
• MarievalA hamlet in Cowessess, Saskatchewan, Canada.
• MarioteOf or relating to Mari.
• marivaudageA writing style characterized by an affectation of refinement, originating from the writing of the French novelist Pierre de Marivaux.
• marmitonA chef's assistant; kitchen boy.
• maroonageThe fact or state of being a maroon.
• MaroticPertaining to French poet Clément Marot, or characteristic of his light, graceful style.
• marotteA jester's dummy, bauble, or sceptre.
• marouflageA technique for affixing a painted canvas to a wall to be used as a mural, using an adhesive that hardens as it dries, such as plaster or cement.