μελίνη

Forms

μελίνη (melínē) f (genitive μελίνης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][3] Wiktionary considers it probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”), the millet being the grain that is ground, the old view that Pokorny also gives.^[1][4][3] Beekes and Frisk treat it as an old culture word related to Latin milium (“millet”), whose form does not match exactly.^[2][3] Chantraine sees in the Latin word a zero grade.^[2][3][5] The comparison with Lithuanian málnos (“manna grass, millet”) is uncertain, since Nieminen connects the Lithuanian word rather with manna.^[2][3][5]

Niedermann instead connected it with μέλας (mélas, “black”), comparing the names of “black millet” in French and German, and Porzig agreed.^[3][5] Beekes asks whether the word is Pre-Greek, noting that Furnée compares ἔλυμος (élumos, “millet”) and ἐλίμαρ (elímar), a Laconian word for a grain like millet.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus, in the 5th century BC, is the first to use it, of the millet crop, and Sophocles also mentions a millet stalk.^[6][7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Xenophon uses the plural for millet fields, and Demosthenes for stores of millet.^[6][8] LSJ identifies the plant as Italian millet, the same as ἔλυμος (élumos).^[6] Photius notes that some took it for a kind of κέγχρος (kénkhros, “common millet”), while Theophrastus kept the two apart, and that Xenophon also uses a masculine form.^[6][10] Dioscorides includes it among his medicinal plants.^[7]

Diocletian's price edict lists the hide of an animal of this name, perhaps the badger, compare Latin mēles (“badger”).^[6][11] Hesychius gives it also as the name of a part of the octopus.^[12][6]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of millet, and Sophocles mentions a millet stalk.^[6][7][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses the plural for millet fields.^[6][8][9]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses the plural for stores of millet.^[8][6][9]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides writes of it in his De materia medica.^[7][9]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as a pulse like κέγχρος and as a part of the octopus.^[12][9]
• 9th century AD – Photius notes that it is used in both genders.^[10][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Millet, Italian or foxtail millet (Setaria italica), the same as ἔλυμος; the seed or the crop.^[6][8][1]
2. (in the plural) Millet fields; stores of millet.^[6][8]
3. An animal whose hide is priced in Diocletian's edict, perhaps the badger.^[6][11]
4. A part of the octopus.^[12][6]

Related words

• ἔλυμος (élumos)
• κέγχρος (kénkhros)
• Latin milium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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
3. ^ a b c d e f Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ a b c Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ a b Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
11. ^ a b Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
12. ^ a b c Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)