molt

Forms

molt (feminine molta, masculine plural molts, feminine plural moltes)^[1] In the 13th and 14th centuries, especially in Roussillon, a vocalised variant mout was frequent, often reduced to mot.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan molt, which is inherited from Latin multus (“much, many”), in its neuter multum for the adverb.^{[2][3][4][5][1]}

The same Latin word is Occitan molt, Italian molto, Spanish mucho, Portuguese muito, French moult and Romanian mult.^[6][7][8]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *molto-, with Oscan and Umbrian cognates meaning “a fine”; a link with Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very”) through Proto-Indo-European *m(o)l-to- (“good, big”) is only possible.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines finds the word in the first Catalan texts, even before the Homilies d'Organyà, which already use it in all its functions: the Devil molt fo ardit “was very bold” when he tried to tempt the Lord.^[2] Bruguera and the GDLC date it to the 12th century, from the Homilies.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Old Catalan used molt as an adjective, a pronoun and an adverb, as Llull's works show (molts proverbis “many proverbs”, contrasta a molts “opposes many”).^[10] Faraudo's quotations add the noun “quantity” in Muntaner (1325) and set phrases such as per molt que “however much” in Metge (1381) and ab molt “by much” (1393).^[11]

The DCVB records molt as a predicate and before adjectives and adverbs, and notes that before a feminine adjective it is sometimes made feminine.^[3] Modern Catalan often puts the partitive de after it (molt de vi).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – molt fo ardit in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[2][12]
• 13th–14th centuries – mout and mot in Roussillon texts.^[2]
• 1325 – Muntaner uses molt as a noun, “quantity”.^[11]
• 1381 – per molt que “however much” in Bernat Metge's Lo somni.^[11]

Meanings

Determiner

1. much, many, a great amount or number of, often followed by de: Hi havia molts (de) cotxes.^[5][3][1]
2. Of a high degree: Avui fa molta humitat.^[5]

Pronoun

1. a lot, a great deal: Ha après molt en poc temps.^[5][1]
2. (plural) Many people.^[5][3]
3. A long time: Fa molt que no ens veiem.^[5]

Adverb

1. very, a lot, to a considerable degree: És molt alt.^[13][5][1]
2. com a molt: at most.^[13]
3. de molt (or amb molt): by far.^[13]
4. per molt que: however much, even though.^[13][11]

Related words

• multitud
• Latin multus
• Occitan molt
• Spanish mucho

Usage notes

Molt as the past participle of moldre “to grind” is a separate word, recorded by Labèrnia (molt, a “ground”).^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 764
3. ^ a b c d Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. molt
4. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 608
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. molt
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5740
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 178
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. moult
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. molt
11. ^ a b c d Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. molt
12. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 2, 501
13. ^ a b c d Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. molt
14. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. molt