1. mālo — Lewis & Short
mālo, mālui, malle (old forms, mavolo for malo,
Plaut. As. 5, 1, 18; id. Curc. 2, 3, 41; id. Poen. 1, 2, 88; 90; id. Rud. 5, 3, 57; Ter. Hec. 4, 1, 25:I
mavolunt for malunt, Naev. ap. Fest. s. v. stuprum, p. 317 Müll.: mavoluit for maluit,Petr. S. p. 77:
mavelim for malim,Plaut. As. 5, 2, 27; id. Aul. 4, 5, 1; id. Capt. 3, 3, 1; id. Bacch. 4, 8, 18; id. Men. 5, 1, 20; id. Mil. 4, 8, 46; id. Merc. 4, 3, 21; 5, 4, 48; id. Poen. 1, 1, 23; 4, 2, 5; 5, 2, 31; id. Pers. 1, 1, 4; id. Rud. 2, 7, 12; id. Truc. 2, 2, 22; 2, 4, 68; 4, 2, 29; 30; 33: mavelis for malis, id. Capt. 2, 2, 20; id. Ps. 1, 2, 8:
mavelit for malit,id. Trin. 2, 2, 25:
mavellem for mallem,id. Am. 1, 3, 14; id. Curc. 4, 2, 26; id. Bacch. 2, 2, 21; 3, 3, 48; 4, 9, 125; id. Mil. 2, 2, 16; id. Ps. 1, 1, 128; 4, 5, 6; id. Poen. 3, 3, 37:
mavolet for malet,id. As. 1, 1, 108), v. a. magis - volo, to choose rather, to prefer.
I In gen., constr. with acc. of the person or thing, with an object-clause, or with subj. (class.).
(a) With acc. of the person or thing (rare): bonos et senatum malet, Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 4, 2:
ambigua, ancipitia malebat,Tac. H. 2, 86:
quin omnia malit,Hor. S. 2, 4, 61:
quod mallem,which I would prefer, Ov. Tr. 2, 239; id. H. 21, 35:
malo, Malo Venusinam quam te,Juv. 6, 167:
ridenda poëmata malo, quam te,id. 10, 124; 14, 153.—In late Lat. also with acc. and dat.:
ut me aliis omnibus mallet,App. Mag. 73, p. 321, 10.—
(b) With object-clause (usu. class. constr.): seseque ii perire mavolunt ibidem, quam, etc., Naev. ap. Fest. p. 317 Müll.; Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 6, § 81 Müll.; Cic. Off. 1, 19, 65:
Cato jam servire quam pugnare mavult,id. Att. 7, 15, 2:
maluit illum esse deum,Hor. S. 1, 8, 3; Cic. Att. 13, 22, 3; id. Div. 2, 57, 118:
judicium prius de probro quam de re maluit fieri,id. Quint. 2, 9:
praetextam sumere mavis, an esse, etc.,Juv. 10, 99.—
(g) With nom. and inf.:
esse quam videri bonus malebat,Sall. C. 54, 5:
unde fit ut malim fraterculus esse gigantis,Juv. 4, 98.—
(d) With subj. (mostly poet.):
mallem ... cognoscerem,Cic. Fam. 7, 14:
mallem divitias mihi dedisses, Quam, etc.,Cat. 24, 4:
fabula sit mavult, quam sine amore deus,Tib. 2, 3, 32:
malo pater tibi sit Thersites,Juv. 8, 269.—Sometimes with comp. abl. instead of quam (poet. and in post-Aug. prose):
nullos his mallem ludos spectasse,rather than these, Hor. S. 2, 8, 79:
ne dubitaret armis incruentas conditiones malle,to choose rather than arms, prefer to arms, Tac. A. 12, 46.—Sometimes followed pleonastically by potius:
se ab omnibus desertos potius quam abs to defensos esse malunt,Cic. Div. in Caecil. 6, 21:
an ille Uticae potius, quam Romae, cum alienis esse quam cum suis maluisset?id. Lig. 2, 5; id. Cat. ap. Fam. 15, 5, 2; Anton. ap. Cic. Att. 14, 13, A, 3.—Also by quam:
qui magis vere vincere, quam diu imperare malit,Liv. 22, 34 fin.—Strengthened by multo or haud paulo:
meo judicio multo stare malo, quam aliorum,much rather, Cic. Att. 12, 21, 5:
haud paulo hunc animum malim quam, etc.,id. Tusc. 1, 42, 99.—
II In partic., to be more favorable to one:
in hac re malo universae Asiae et negotiatoribus,Cic. Att. 2, 16, 4:
quamquam illi omnia malo, quam mihi,i. e. would rather he had them, id. Planc. 24, 59.—Hence, mālens, entis, P. a., preferring (late Lat.), Hier. in Matt. 2, ad 14, 4; Aug. c. Jul. 4, 14, 68.