Advertisement

Origin and history of *mel-

*mel-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "soft," with derivatives referring to soft or softened materials.

It might form all or part of: amblyopia; bland; blandish; blenny; emollient; enamel; malacia; malaxation; malt; melt; mild; Mildred; milt; moil; mollify; Mollusca; mollusk; mulch; mullein; mutton; schmaltz; smelt (v.); smelt (n.).

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit mrdh "to neglect," also "to be moist;" Greek malakos "soft," malthon "weakling;" Latin mollire "soften," mollis "soft;" Old Irish meldach "tender."

*mel-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "strong, great." It might form all or part of: ameliorate; amelioration; meliorate; melioration; meliorism; multi-; multiform; multiple; multiply; multitude. It might also be the source of: Greek mala "very, very much;" Latin multus "much, many," melior "better."

*mel-(3)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "false, bad, wrong." The exact sense of the root remains uncertain, "since it concerns a collection of largely isolated words in different IE branches" [de Vaan].

It might form all or part of: blame; blaspheme; blasphemous; blasphemy; ‌‌dismal; mal-; malady; malaise; malaria; malediction; malefactor; malefic; malevolence; malevolent; malice; malicious; malign; malison; malversation; mauvais.

It might also be the source of: Avestan mairiia‑, "treacherous;" Greek meleos "idle; unhappy;" Latin male (adv.) "badly," malus (adj.) "bad, evil;" Old Irish mell "destruction;" Armenian mel "sin;" Lithuanian melas "lie," Latvian malds "mistake," possbily also Greek blasphemein "to slander." 

Entries linking to *mel-

amblyopia(n.)

1706, "weakening of the eyesight without any apparent defect in the eyes," medical Latin, from Greek amblyōpia "dim-sightedness," noun of action from ōps "eye" (from PIE root *okw- "to see") + amblys "dulled, blunt," a word of uncertain origin; according to Watkins possibly from a suffixed form of PIE root *mel- (1) "soft." With abstract noun ending -ia. Related: Amblyopic.

ameliorate(v.)

1728, "to make better," in some cases perhaps a back-formation from amelioration on pattern of French améliorer, or else from Medieval Latin amelioratus, past participle of ameliorare. The intransitive sense of "grow better" is by 1789. The simpler form meliorate was used in Middle English. Related: Ameliorated; ameliorating; ameliorable.

Advertisement

More to explore

blame
c. 1200, "find fault with" (opposed to praise, commend); c. 1300, "lay responsibility on for something deemed wrong," from Old French blasmer (12c., Modern French blâmer) "to rebuke, reprimand, condemn, criticize," from Vulgar Latin *blastemare, from Late Latin blasphemare "to bl
blandish
mid-14c., "to flatter," from Old French blandiss-, present-participle stem of blandir "to flatter, caress," from Latin blandiri "flatter, soothe, caress, coax," from blandus "smooth-talking, flattering, alluring," perhaps from PIE root *mel- (1) "soft." OED reports it rare in 17c
blaspheme
"to speak impiously or irreverently of God and sacred things," mid-14c., blasfemen, from Old French blasfemer "to blaspheme" (14c., Modern French blasphémer), from Church Latin blasphemare (which in Late Latin also meant "revile, reproach," hence blame (v.)), from Greek blasphēme
meal
from Old English mæl, Anglian mēl, "fixed time, occasion; a meal," from Proto-Germanic *mela- (source also of Old Frisian mel...Middle Dutch mael, Dutch maal "time; meal;" Old Norse mal "measure, time, meal;" German Mal "time," Mahl "meal;" Gothic mel...
mousse
from Late Latin mulsa "mead," from Latin mulsum "honey wine, mead," from neuter of mulsus "mixed with honey," related to mel...
smelt
Watkins says from PIE root *mel- (1) "soft."...
caramel
.)) + mellis, genitive of mel "honey" (from PIE root *melit- "honey")....
sand
"water-worn detritus finer than gravel; fine particles of rocks (largely crystalline rocks, especially quartz); the material of the beach, desert, or sea-bed;" Old English sand, from Proto-Germanic *sandam (source also of Old Norse sandr, Old Frisian sond, Middle Dutch sant, Dutc
psychology
1650s, "the study of the soul," from Modern Latin psychologia, probably coined mid-16c. in Germany by Melanchthon from Latinized form of Greek psykhē "breath, spirit, soul" (see psyche) + logia "study of" (see -logy). The meaning "science or study of the phenomena of the mind" is
community
late 14c., "a number of people associated together by the fact of residence in the same locality," also "the common people" (not the rulers or the clergy), from Old French comunité "community, commonness, everybody" (Modern French communauté), from Latin communitatem (nominative

Share *mel-

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near *mel-
Advertisement