'malestar' originates from Spanish, specifically the word 'malestar', where 'mal' meant 'bad' and 'estar' meant 'to be'.

'mal' comes from Latin 'malus' meaning 'bad'; 'estar' comes from Latin 'stare' (to stand/be), through Vulgar Latin and Old Spanish, forming the compound 'mal-estar' which became 'malestar' in modern Spanish.

Initially, the elements meant 'bad' + 'to be' (a bad state of being); over time this combined form came to denote bodily discomfort, general unease, and later also social discontent, i.e., the modern senses of 'malaise' and 'discomfort'.