word-forming element meaning "large, great, exaggerated," from combining form of Greek megas "large, great" (stem megal-), from PIE root *meg- "great."
Entries linking to megalo-
*meg-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "great."
It forms all or part of: acromegaly; Almagest; Charlemagne; maestro; magisterial; magistral; magistrate; Magna Carta; magnate; magnitude; magnum; magnanimity; magnanimous; magni-; Magnificat; magnificence; magnificent; magnify; magniloquence; magniloquent; Magnus; maharajah; maharishi; mahatma; Mahayana; Maia; majesty; major; major-domo; majority; majuscule; master; maxim; maximum; may (v.2) "to take part in May Day festivities;" May; mayor; mega-; megalo-; mickle; Mister; mistral; mistress; much; omega.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Armenian mets "great;" Sanskrit mahat- "great, mazah- "greatness;" Avestan mazant- "great;" Hittite mekkish "great, large;" Greek megas "great, large;" Latin magnus "great, large, much, abundant," major "greater," maximus "greatest;" Middle Irish mag, maignech "great, large;" Middle Welsh meith "long, great."
megalocardia n.
"condition of having an abnormally enlarged heart," 1855 (in German by 1826), from megalo- "enlarged, exaggerated" + cardia "heart" (from PIE root *kerd- "heart").
megalomania n.
"delusions of greatness; a form of insanity in which the subjects imagine themselves to be great, exalted, or powerful personages," 1866, from French mégalomanie; see megalo- "great, exaggerated" + mania "madness."