μάλαγμα

Forms

μᾰ́λᾰγμᾰ (málagma) n (genitive μᾰλᾰ́γμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”) + -μα (-ma),^[2][3][4][5] and Beekes lists it among the derivatives of μαλακός (malakós, “soft”), from which μαλάσσω (malássō) is a denominative verb.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the Hippocratic writings and in Plato's Timaeus;^[7] Plato's use, “padding” that softens a blow, is a doubtful reading.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

In medicine it was a softening application, an emollient poultice or plaster: Theophrastus, Galen and a papyrus of the 2nd century AD use it so.^[2][9][10] The Septuagint uses it three times for a medicinal plaster, and Hesychius glosses it as “remedy”.^[11][12] Military writers used it for soft padding to blunt the force of siege engines and missiles, Plutarch uses it of a buffer against a shock, and a scholiast of the shirt worn under armour.^[2][10][13] Sahidic Coptic borrowed the word.^[14]

In medieval vernacular Greek it kept the sense of an emollient, but it also meant an alloy of metals or worked gold, then gold itself and treasure, in the forms μάλαγμαν (málagman) and μάλαμα (málama).^[15] Kriaras derives that sense from Syriac.^[15] Babiniotis traces it to an Arabic or Syriac alchemists' word for an amalgam, which some have taken back to Hellenistic μάλαγμα,^[16] and Etymonline likewise thinks that Medieval Latin amalgama (whence English amalgam) probably came from an Arabic word for an emollient poultice, perhaps itself from this Greek word.^[17] Triantafyllidis instead derives Modern Greek μάλαμα (málama, “gold”) straight from medieval μάλαγμα “soft material”, with /ɣm/ assimilated to /mm/ and then simplified.^[18] Modern Greek also keeps μάλαγμα (málagma) for softening by kneading and for a rope fender hung on a ship's side.^[19][20]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – The Hippocratic writings and Plato's Timaeus use it.^[7][8][21]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for an emollient.^[2][21]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – Philo the engineer uses it for padding against siege engines.^[2][6][21]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for a buffer against a shock.^[2][21]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for a medicinal plaster.^[2][21]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses μάλαμα (málama) for gold and treasure, and the older form for a poultice.^[15]
• Modern Greek – μάλαμα (málama) means gold, and figuratively a good-hearted person.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) An emollient; a softening poultice or plaster.^[2][11][9]
2. Soft material, padding, used to deaden blows, especially against siege engines.^[2][8]
3. (Byzantine) An alloy of metals, worked gold; gold, treasure.^[15]

Related words

• μαλάσσω (malássō)
• μαλακός (malakós)
• English amalgam

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
10. ^ a b Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
11. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
12. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
13. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
14. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
15. ^ a b c d Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
16. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
17. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
19. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
20. ^ Πολυλεξικό, in the encyclopedia Επιστήμη και Ζωή, Athens
21. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge