mel-

I. mel-¹

Soft; with derivatives referring to soft or softened materials of various kinds.

I. Extended form *meld-.

1. melt, from Old English meltan, to melt, from Germanic *meltan.

2. Possibly Germanic *miltja-. milt, from Old English milte, spleen, and Middle Dutch milte, milt.

3. Possibly Germanic *malta-. malt, from Old English mealt, malt.

4. Suffixed variant form *mled-sno-. blenny, from Greek blennos, slime, also a name for the blenny.

5. Suffixed zero-grade form *ml̥d-wi-. moil, mollify, mollusk, mouillé; emollient, from Latin mollis, soft.

6. Possibly nasalized variant form *mlad-. bland, blandish, from Latin blandus, smooth, caressing, flattering, soft-spoken.

II. Variant form *smeld-.

a. smelt¹, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten, to smelt;

b. schmaltz, from Old High German smalz, animal fat;

c. smalt, from Italian smalto, enamel, glaze;

d. enamel, from Old French esmail, enamel. a-d all from Germanic *smelt-;

e. smelt², from Old English smelt, smylt, a marine fish, smelt, perhaps from Germanic *smelt-.

III. Extended form *meldh-.

1. mild, from Old English milde, mild, from Germanic *mildja-.

2. Possibly Greek maltha, a mixture of wax and pitch: maltha.

IV. Suffixed form *mel-sko-. mulch, from Old English mel(i)sc, mylsc, mild, mellow, from Germanic *mil-sk-.

V. Extended form *ml̥ək-. bonanza, chondromalacia, malacology, osteomalacia, from Greek malakos, soft.

VI. Possibly Celtic *molto-, sheep. mutton, from Old French moton, sheep.

VII. Suffixed zero-grade form *(ə)ml-u-. amblygonite, amblyopia, from Greek amblus, blunt, dull, dim.

 

[Pokorny 1. mel- 716.]

  II. mel-²

Strong, great.

1. Suffixed (comparative) form *mel-yos-. ameliorate, meliorate, meliorism, from Latin melior, better.

2. Suffixed zero-grade form *ml̥-to-. molto, multi-, multitude, from Latin multus, much, many.

 

[Pokorny 4. mel- 720.]

  III. mel-³

False, bad, wrong.

1. mal-, malice, malign; dismal, malady, malaria, maledict, malefactor, malefic, malentendu, malevolence, malison, malversation, from Latin malus, bad, and male, ill (> malignus, harmful).

2. Perhaps suffixed zero-grade form *ml̥-s-. blame, blaspheme, from Greek blasphēmos, blasphemous, perhaps from *ml̥s-bhā-mo-, “speaking evil” (*bhā-, to speak; see bhā-²).

3. Suffixed form *mel-yo-. markhor, from Avestan mairiia-, treacherous.

 

[Pokorny 2. mel- 719, mēlo- 724.]

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