maudlin
Etymology and origin of the English word maudlin
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈmɔːd.lɪn/[1]
Etymology
It is an alteration of the name of Mary Magdalene,[2][3] through Middle English Maudelen,[4][5][6] borrowed from Old French Madelaine[4][5] and from Late Latin Magdalēnē,[4][6] from Ancient Greek Μαγδαληνή (Magdalēnḗ, “woman of Magdala”).[4][6] Magdala was a town on the Sea of Galilee.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tearful, weeping, a sense now obsolete.[5][7][4]
Semantic evolution
In the Middle Ages Mary Magdalene was believed to be the repentant sinner of Luke 7:37, and paintings often showed her weeping in repentance,[5][4][2] so her name came to mean “tearful”.[2][4] By the 1630s it meant tearfully or excessively sentimental,[5][7][4] and from maudlin-drunk it also described the tearful stage of drunkenness.[5][7]
Timeline
- before 1325 – Maudelen as a name;[4] the OED's first quotation is c. 1320.[7]
- 1509 – Merriam-Webster's date for the adjective;[3] RHWU gives 1500–10.[6]
- 1607 – tearful;[7][4] Etymonline gives c. 1600.[5]
- 1616 – maudlin-drunk;[7] Etymonline gives the 1610s.[5]
- before 1631 – mawkishly sentimental.[7][4]
- by 1700 – slang, tipsy and foolish from drink.[5]
- 1838 – noun, mawkish sentiment.[7]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Effusively, tearfully or foolishly sentimental.
- Silly and sentimental from drink.
- (archaic) Tearful.
Word family
- maudlinly
- maudlinness
- maudlinism
- unmaudlin
Related words
- Magdalene
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Related etymologies
- palindrome · also from Greek
- nausea · also from Greek
- oxymoron · also from Greek
- anecdote · also from Greek
- bonanza · also from Greek
- tragedy · also from Greek
- halcyon · also from Greek
- paraphernalia · also from Greek
Cite this entry
“Maudlin.” Etymologically, 8 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/maudlin. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on .