"faulty occlusion" (of teeth), 1864, from mal- + occlusion.
Entries linking to malocclusion
mal-
word-forming element of Latin origin meaning "bad, badly, ill, poorly, wrong, wrongly," from French mal (adv.), from Old French mal (adj., adv.) "evil, ill, wrong, wrongly" (9c.), from Latin male (adv.) "badly," or malus (adj.) "bad, evil" (fem. mala, neuter malum), from Proto-Italic *malo-, from PIE *mol-o-, probably from PIE root *mel- (3) "false, bad, wrong."
Most Modern English words with this element are 19c. coinages. It generally implies imperfection or deficiency, but often it is simply negative (as in malfeasance, malcontent). It is equivalent to dys- and caco- of Greek origin and Germanic mis- (1).
occlusion n.
"act or fact of being stopped up," 1640s, from Medieval Latin occlusionem (nominative occlusio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin occludere (see occlude). Dentistry sense "position of the two sets of teeth relative to each other when the mouth is closed" is from 1880.