Etymologically
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malleus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmal.le.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmal.le.us][1]

Forms

malleus m (genitive malleī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[1] Schrijver, followed by de Vaan, makes it an adjective in -eus built on *malalo-, from *mola-lo-, Proto-Indo-European *molH-lo- (“crushing instrument”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind”) of molō.[2][1][3] Cognate with Old Church Slavonic млатъ (mlatŭ, “hammer”) and Russian молот (mólot, “hammer”), from *molH-to-.[2][4] Prósper instead derives it from *mar(a)lo-, Proto-Indo-European *mr̥h₂-(e)lo-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *merh₂-.[1] Isidore of Seville explained that the hammer strikes while the metal is hot and soft.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who compares a man to a wooden ship often struck with the mallet.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a hammer, mallet or maul, also the maul for felling sacrificial animals, as in Ovid and Suetonius.[4][7][8] Columella uses it of a vine cutting, like malleolus.[4]

In Medieval Latin it was the tool of masons, smiths and carpenters, a beater for flax, and a hammer for striking a bell.[9] It survives in French mail, Italian maglio and Spanish mallo.[1] Through Old French mail it is the source of English maul about 1200 and English mallet in the late 14th century, and English malleus was borrowed in the 1660s for the hammer-shaped bone of the ear.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a shipwright's mallet.[4][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the sacrificial maul.[7][6]
  • c. 1200 – English maul is recorded.[3]
  • 1660s – English malleus (the ear bone) is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hammer, mallet, maul.[4]
  2. A maul for felling sacrificial animals.[8][7]
  3. A vine cutting (= malleolus).[4]

Word family

  • commalleō
  • malleātor
  • malleātus
  • malleolus
  • malleābilis
  • malleō
  • molō
  • marculus
  • English maul
  • English mallet

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press