μῆλον
Ancient Greek
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /mɛ̂ː.lon/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈme̝.lon/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈmi.lon/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈmi.lon/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈmi.lon/
Etymology 1
Uncertain. Multiple theories have been put forth.
Beekes declares it to be a Pre-Greek Mediterranean substrate borrowing, comparing it with Hittite 𒈠𒀀𒄴𒆷𒀸 (māḫlaš, “grapevine”).[1]
Kroonen (2016) reconstructs a Proto-Indo-European byform *smh₂l-, from which he also derives Hittite 𒊭𒈠𒇻 (šamalu-), 𒊭𒄠𒇻 (šamlu-) "apple". He also connects this IE form with Proto-Kartvelian *msxal- (“pear”) and proposes that the Indo-European words may have come from a metathesis of that Kartvelian word. [2]
Fenwick (2016) also argues for an ultimate Indo-European origin, though with differing details, and views the Kartvelian term rather as an IE loan. She reconstructs PIE *méh₂lo- (“cultivated tree, cultivated vine”), with a variant *móh₂lo- (“id.”)—cp. Hittite 𒈠𒀀𒄴𒆷𒀸 (māḫlaš, “grapevine”), Lydian μῶλαξ "type of wine", and Armenian մոլ (mol, “sucker, runner, stolon”)—and considers them as thematised from an acrostatic root noun in *móh₂l- (“type of culturally important plant”), with a range of other derived forms. She further treats *móh₂l- itself as a possible archaic *-l- deverbal from *meh₂- (“to grow, increase, mature, be fruitful”), comparing also *webʰl- (“weevil, beetle, worm”) alongside *webʰ- (“to weave”)).[3]
Alternative forms
- μᾶλον (mâlon) – Doric, Aeolic
Noun
μῆλον • (mêlon) n (genitive μήλου); second declension
- apple
- any fruit from a tree
- (figuratively, in the plural) a woman's breast
- (in the plural) cheeks
Declension
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon | τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō | τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ μήλου toû mḗlou | τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin | τῶν μήλων tôn mḗlōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ μήλῳ tôi mḗlōi | τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin | τοῖς μήλοις toîs mḗlois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon | τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō | τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla | ||||||||||
Vocative | μῆλον mêlon | μήλω mḗlō | μῆλᾰ mêla | ||||||||||
Notes: |
|
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | τὸ μᾶλον tò mâlon | τὼ μᾱ́λω tṑ mā́lō | τᾰ̀ μᾶλᾰ tà mâla | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ μᾱ́λω toû mā́lō | τοῖν μᾱ́λοιν toîn mā́loin | τῶν μᾱ́λων tôn mā́lōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ μᾱ́λῳ tôi mā́lōi | τοῖν μᾱ́λοιν toîn mā́loin | τοῖς μᾱ́λοις toîs mā́lois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸ μᾶλον tò mâlon | τὼ μᾱ́λω tṑ mā́lō | τᾰ̀ μᾱ́λως tà mā́lōs | ||||||||||
Vocative | μᾶλον mâlon | μᾱ́λω mā́lō | μᾶλᾰ mâla | ||||||||||
Notes: |
|
Derived terms
- ᾰ̔μᾰμηλῐ́ς (hamamēlís)
- ἐπῐμηλῐ́ς (epimēlís)
- κοκκῠ́μηλον (kokkúmēlon)
- μελίμηλον (melímēlon)
- μήλινος (mḗlinos)
- μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn)
- μήλωθρον (mḗlōthron)
- Φιλομήλη (Philomḗlē)
- χρῡσόμηλον (khrūsómēlon)
Descendants
- Greek: μήλο (mílo)
- Tsakonian: μάλι (máli)
- → Proto-Albanian: *mālā (via Doric μᾶλα (mâla))
- Albanian: mollë
- → Latin: mālum, mēlum, mēlo
- → Translingual: Malus
Etymology 2
Unknown; perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₁l- (“small animal”). Compare Old Irish mil (“small animal”), Dutch maal (“young cow”), Old Church Slavonic малъ (malŭ), Old English smæl (English small).
Alternative forms
- μεῖλον (meîlon) – Boeotian
Noun
μῆλον • (mêlon) n (genitive μήλου); second declension
- sheep
- goat
- beast
Declension
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon | τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō | τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ μήλου toû mḗlou | τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin | τῶν μήλων tôn mḗlōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ μήλῳ tôi mḗlōi | τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin | τοῖς μήλοις toîs mḗlois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon | τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō | τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla | ||||||||||
Vocative | μῆλον mêlon | μήλω mḗlō | μῆλᾰ mêla | ||||||||||
Notes: |
|
Derived terms
- Εὔμηλος (Eúmēlos)
- μηλᾰ́της (mēlátēs)
- μηλοφῠ́λᾰξ (mēlophúlax)
References
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “μῆλον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 943-944
- Kroonen, Guus (2016), “On the origin of Greek μῆλον, Latin mālum, Albanian mollë and Hittite šam(a)lu- ‘apple’”, in The Journal of Indo-European Studies, volume 44, pages 85-91
- Fenwick, Rhona S. H. (2016), “Descendants and ancestry of a Proto-Indo-European phytonym *meh₂l-”, in The Journal of Indo-European Studies, volume 44, pages 441-456
Further reading
- “μῆλον (Α)”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “μῆλον (Β)”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “μῆλον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “μῆλον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- μῆλον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “μῆλον”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- μῆλον in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- apple idem, page 35.