meles

Forms

mēlēs f (genitive mēlis); third declension^[1] Varro and Gratius spell it mael-,^[2] and a nominative mēlis (maelis) is also found.^[3][4]

Etymology

The origin is unknown; the OLD marks it as doubtful.^[2][1] Wiktionary suggests that it may have been borrowed from the Alpine region together with fēlēs (“cat, marten”), which is likewise unexplained and is the only other animal name with the same vowel lengths,^[1] and Köbler also compares the two.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first author to use it is Varro, in his work on farming, who spells the nominative maelis;^[2][4][5] it names a badger or a marten, and the dictionaries differ on which.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it remained the name of a small wild animal, the badger according to the OLD and probably the marten according to Georges, used by Pliny the Elder, Gratius and Martial.^[2][4][6] Its genitive plural is melium in Pliny.^[4]

In medieval Latin it could also mean a garment of marten fur,^[7] and in the Latin of the Czech lands a badger's pelt or a garment of animal hair.^[8] Wiktionary lists southern Italian descendants such as melogna in Neapolitan, and Aragonese melón, both reshaped.^[1]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro names the animal, in the spelling maelis.^[2][4][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions it in his natural history.^[2][4][5]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it in his epigrams.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A badger.^[2][6]
2. A marten (the meaning Georges thinks more likely).^[3][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A garment of marten fur.^[7]

Usage notes

A separate proper name, Melēs (genitive Melētis), is a river in Ionia beside which Homer was said to have been born;^[2][3] Melēs is also the plural name of a Samnite village in Livy.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
8. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences