Question:
Choose the correct meaning of the foreign language word "malus".
Choose the correct meaning of the foreign language word "malus".
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Latin roots like \emph{mal-} often signal something negative—recognizing such prefixes can help in guessing meanings of unfamiliar words.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- mass
- harmless
- harmful
- comforting
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The Correct Option is C
Approach Solution - 1
The word \emph{"malus"} comes from Latin, meaning "bad" or "evil". In English usage, it conveys the sense of something harmful, damaging, or morally wrong. For example, in botany, \emph{Malus} is the genus for apple trees, but in general Latin context, the root "mal-" denotes negativity (as in "malfunction" or "malpractice").
Options (A), (B), and (D) are unrelated: "mass" refers to size or quantity, "harmless" is the opposite meaning, and "comforting" is a positive feeling.
Options (A), (B), and (D) are unrelated: "mass" refers to size or quantity, "harmless" is the opposite meaning, and "comforting" is a positive feeling.
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Approach Solution -2
The question asks for the meaning of the Latin word "malus." Let's look at what each option would mean if it were the right translation.
- Mass: "Mass" refers to the quantity of matter in an object or a large gathering of people, and it comes from a completely different Latin root ("massa"). There is no link between "malus" and size or quantity, so this option can be set aside.
- Harmless: This is actually the opposite of what "malus" conveys. The Latin root "mal-" is a negative prefix seen in words like "malfunction," "malpractice," and "malady," all of which describe something going wrong, not something safe or harmless.
- Harmful: This fits the negative sense carried by the root "mal-." Latin "malus" means "bad" or "evil," and in everyday English usage it carries the sense of something damaging or wrong, which is precisely what "harmful" describes.
- Comforting: This is a positive, soothing quality, sitting at the opposite end of the meaning scale from "mal-." Nothing about the root supports a comforting or pleasant sense.
Since "malus" comes from the same negative Latin root found in words like "malfunction" and "malicious," its meaning lines up with something damaging rather than pleasant or neutral.
Therefore, the correct answer is harmful.
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Approach Solution -3
Rather than tracing the word through Latin compounds, we can settle this by simple polarity, whether each option carries a positive, neutral, or negative sense, since "malus" is known to carry a negative one.
- Mass: This is a neutral, quantity-related word with no positive or negative charge at all, so it cannot match a word that carries a negative sense.
- Harmless: This is a distinctly positive or reassuring word, describing the absence of danger. A negative-sense word cannot land on a meaning this favourable.
- Harmful: This carries a clearly negative charge, describing something that causes damage or injury, matching the negative sense "malus" is known to carry.
- Comforting: This is a warmly positive word, the opposite polarity of what "malus" conveys, so it cannot be the match.
Only one of the four options carries the same negative charge that "malus" is known for, ruling out the neutral option and the two positive alternatives.
Therefore, the correct answer is harmful.
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- In the realm of contemporary literature, the interplay between character and setting is a nuanced dance that shapes the narrative’s essence. The setting, often described with painstaking detail, becomes more than a backdrop; it becomes a character, influencing the plot and character development.
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What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of all Kasauli of course-its starkness. It had rocks, it had pines, it had light and air. In every direction there was a sweeping view - to the north, of the mountains, to the south, of the plains. Occasionally an eagle swam through this clear unobstructed mass of light and air, that was all. And Carignano, her home on the ridge, had no more than that. Why should it? The sun shone on its white walls. Its windows were open the ones facing north opened on to the blue waves of the Himalayas flowing out and up to the line of ice and snow sketched upon the sky, while those that faced south looked down the plunging cliff to the plain stretching out, flat and sere to the blurred horizon.
Yes, there were some apricot trees close to the house. There were clumps of iris that had finished blooming. There was the kitchen with a wing of smoke lifting out of its chimney and a stack of wood outside its door. But these were incidental, almost unimportant.
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The 19th century ushered in a new era of literary giants. Jane Austen’s novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, provide incisive social commentary through the lens of wit and romance. Austen’s heroines, like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, remain beloved literary figures known for their intelligence and resilience. The Romantic era brought forth poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who celebrated * 8 UG the beauty of nature and the emotional intensity of the individual. Wordsworth’s ‘‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’’ and Coleridge’s ‘‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’’ are testament to the power of the written words to evoke profound emotions and imagery. Moving towards 20th century, English literature continued to evolve. Virginia Woolf’s ground-breaking novel Mrs. Dalloway explored the inner thoughts and lives of its characters with a modernist narrative style. Dystopian visions, as seen in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four provided stark warnings about the dangers of totalitarianism and the erosion of individual freedom.
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Consider, for instance, the barren expanse of the desert in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. The arid landscape mirrors the sense of isolation felt by the protagonist, Gogol, as he navigates his identity crisis in a foreign land. The relentless sun and vast sands are not mere descriptions; they are the silent witnesses to his inner turmoil.
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What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of all Kasauli of course-its starkness. It had rocks, it had pines, it had light and air. In every direction there was a sweeping view - to the north, of the mountains, to the south, of the plains. Occasionally an eagle swam through this clear unobstructed mass of light and air, that was all. And Carignano, her home on the ridge, had no more than that. Why should it? The sun shone on its white walls. Its windows were open the ones facing north opened on to the blue waves of the Himalayas flowing out and up to the line of ice and snow sketched upon the sky, while those that faced south looked down the plunging cliff to the plain stretching out, flat and sere to the blurred horizon.
Yes, there were some apricot trees close to the house. There were clumps of iris that had finished blooming. There was the kitchen with a wing of smoke lifting out of its chimney and a stack of wood outside its door. But these were incidental, almost unimportant.
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The 19th century ushered in a new era of literary giants. Jane Austen’s novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, provide incisive social commentary through the lens of wit and romance. Austen’s heroines, like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, remain beloved literary figures known for their intelligence and resilience. The Romantic era brought forth poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who celebrated * 8 UG the beauty of nature and the emotional intensity of the individual. Wordsworth’s ‘‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’’ and Coleridge’s ‘‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’’ are testament to the power of the written words to evoke profound emotions and imagery. Moving towards 20th century, English literature continued to evolve. Virginia Woolf’s ground-breaking novel Mrs. Dalloway explored the inner thoughts and lives of its characters with a modernist narrative style. Dystopian visions, as seen in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four provided stark warnings about the dangers of totalitarianism and the erosion of individual freedom.
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