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]

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ма́лый • (mályj) (comparative (по)ме́ньше, superlative мале́йший or ме́ньший)

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.
• A special short form is found in the expression от ма́ла до вели́ка (ot mála do velíka, “all ages”, literally “from small to big”). Here, ма́ла and вели́ка are old short genitives.
• A special short form is found in the expression ку́ча мала́ (kúča malá, “pile of people, disorderly heap”, literally “small pile”). Here, мала́ is an old short feminine attributive adjective.
• A special short form is found in the expression мал мала́ ме́ньше (mal malá ménʹše, “one (child, object, etc.) smaller than the next”, literally “small smaller”). Here, мал (masculine) and мала́ (feminine) are old short attributive adjectives.

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

1. fellow, guy, chap synonyms ▲quotations ▼

   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