moler

Forms

moler (first-person singular present muelo, first-person singular preterite molí, past participle molido)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish moler, inherited from Latin molō (“to grind in a mill”).^[2][3][1] The stressed /o/ became /we/ in the forms stressed on the stem, such as ⟨muelo⟩ and ⟨muele⟩, a change the Autoridades noted as an anomaly of the verb.^[4]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese moer, Galician moer, Asturian moler, Catalan moldre, Old Occitan molre and French moudre.^[5][1] Catalan had molre at first; the form with an inserted ⟨d⟩ prevails from the 15th century.^[6]

The Latin verb is related to mola (“millstone”) and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”).^[7][1] Its cognates include Ancient Greek μύλη (múlē, “handmill”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌽 (malan, “to grind”) and English meal.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb moler is first recorded in a charter of 1161 of the Fitero collection.^[8][2] The Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy) has it in the plague of the firstborn: troal fijo de la manceba que muele a la muela “down to the son of the maidservant who grinds at the millstone”.^[9] The sense was grinding grain.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word was used of grinding incense in a mortar (Berceo) and of a stone that crumbles between the fingers (Alfonso X's Lapidario).^[9][11][12] Covarrubias defined it as reducing grain to powder, chiefly with the millstone.^[10] The Autoridades added two figurative senses, to vex someone gravely, quoting the Quijote, and to tire out, as in estoi molido de trabajar.^[4] Terreros noted the painters' grinding of colours and moler a palos “to beat”, and in 1817 the Academy also gave “to chew”, “to wear out (clothes)” and “to beat”.^[13][14]

The pressing of sugar cane in the mill gave a special sense: the Canary Islands records speak of mills para moler las cañas from 1500, and Santo Domingo of sugar mills that grind from 1520.^[15][16] Malaret and Santamaría record it as an intransitive verb said of the cane, in Cuba, Peru and Puerto Rico.^[17][18] In Mexico and Guatemala it means to annoy, in Colombia to work hard, and in El Salvador and Nicaragua it is a vulgar word for having sex.^[19][1]

Timeline

• 1161 – the first record, in a charter of the Fitero collection.^[8][2]
• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has muele a la muela (in a 13th-century copy).^[9]
• 1228–1246 – Berceo writes of incense molido en mortario.^[9]
• 1234–1275 – the Fuero de Cáceres regulates when the mills may grind.^[9]
• 1250–1279 – the Lapidario of Alfonso X describes a stone that crumbles between the fingers.^[12]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary renders Latin molo as moler.^[20]
• 1500 – sugar mills in Tenerife grind the cane.^[15]
• 1520 – the first record in the Americas, sugar mills in Santo Domingo.^[16]
• 1611 – Covarrubias connects it with the millstone, muela.^[10]
• 1726–1739 – the Autoridades adds the senses “to vex” and “to tire out”.^[4]
• 1817 – the Academy adds “to chew” and “to beat”.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology, Latin molere.^[21]

Meanings

Verb

1. To grind or mill: to break a solid body into very small pieces or into powder: Molimos el café justo antes de prepararlo.^[3][1]
2. To press sugar cane in the trapiche, the sugar mill.^[3]
3. To tire out, wear out: La mudanza nos dejó molidos a todos.^[3][1]
4. To damage or ill-treat; to beat.^[3][22]
5. To pester someone gravely and tiresomely.^[3]
6. (Mexico, Guatemala, colloquial) To annoy;^[19][1] (Colombia, colloquial) to toil, work hard.^[19][1]
7. (El Salvador, Nicaragua, vulgar) To have sex with.^[19][1]

Word family

• moledura
• molienda
• moliente
• remoler
• moledor
• molido

Related words

• moledero
• moltura
• Latin molō
• Portuguese moer

Usage notes

Moler is conjugated like mover: muelo, mueles, molí.^[1][22] A todo moler means with all one's effort, and moler a palos to give someone a beating.^[3][23]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. moler
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. moler
4. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 590
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ 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, 737
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. moler
9. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. moler
10. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1143
11. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. s.v. moler
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. moler
13. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 604
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 580
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. moler
16. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. moler
17. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 567
18. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 291
19. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. moler
20. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. moler
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 712
22. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. moler
23. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 482