μῆλον

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation
 

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Compare Hittite 𒈠𒀀𒄴𒆷𒀸 (māḫlaš, “grapevine”), Hittite 𒊭𒈠𒇻 (šamalu-, “apple”), Hittite 𒊭𒄠𒇻 (šamlu-, “apple”) and Proto-Kartvelian *msxal- (“pear”).

Multiple theories have been put forth:

Theories on the origin of μῆλον
  • 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 Proto-Indo-European *méh₂lo- (“cultivated tree, cultivated vine”), with a variant *móh₂lo- (“id.”). This variant is visible in e.g. Hittite 𒈠𒀀𒄴𒆷𒀸 (māḫlaš, “grapevine”), Lydian μῶλαξ (môlax, “type of wine”), and Armenian մոլ (mol, “sucker, runner, stolon”). She takes this variation as evidence of an earlier acrostatic root noun *móh₂l- (“type of culturally important plant”) - which got thematized later on - showing a range of other derived forms. She further treats *móh₂l- itself as a possible archaic *-l- deverbal noun from *meh₂- (“to grow, increase, mature, be fruitful”). She compares this development to that of *webʰl- (“weevil, beetle, worm”), which she derives from *webʰ- (“to weave”)).[3]

Alternative forms

Noun

μῆλον • (mêlon) n (genitive μήλου); second declension

  1. apple
  2. any fruit from a tree
  3. (figuratively, in the plural) a woman's breast
  4. (in the plural) cheeks
Declension

Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Second declension of τὸ μᾶλον; τοῦ μᾱ́λω (Laconian)
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:
  • Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Greek: μήλο (mílo)
  • Tsakonian: μάλι (máli)
  • → Proto-Albanian: *mālā (via Doric μᾶλα (mâla))
  • → Latin: mālum, mēlum, mēlo

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

Noun

μῆλον • (mêlon) n (genitive μήλου); second declension

  1. sheep
  2. goat
  3. beast
Declension

Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Derived terms

References
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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.
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