köken: From malha, or from Old Galician-Portuguese mallado, from an Iberian Vulgar Latin *mac(u)lātus, from Latin macula. Compare Spanish majada. The origin of the "supporter of queen Maria II, liberal" sense is unclear. A popular theory postulates it was coined by partisans of Dom Miguel (Maria II's rival) in reference to an event where a mottled horse that was pulling Miguel's carriage went…