molina

Forms

molīna f (genitive molīnae); first declension; also molīnum n and molīnus m.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin molīnus (“of a mill”), its feminine used as a noun,^[4][5] and the adjective is from molō (“to grind”);^[4][6][7] Etymonline derives it from mola (“millstone, mill”).^[5] An early borrowing from it is the source of Old English mylen (“mill”) and English mill, and Late Latin molīna is also the source of French moulin, Spanish molino and German Mühle.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 390 AD), where mills built close together narrow the paths up a hill;^{[4][1][8][9][7]} a glossary renders molīnae with Greek ὑδραλέσια (hudralésia).^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it is the usual word for a mill (Cassiodorus),^[4][1] beside the older mola; the miller is molīnārius.^[10] In Medieval Latin it appears in the capitularies and the Visigothic laws^[7] and in charters, also as neuter molīnum and masculine molīnus;^[2][3] British sources distinguish summer and winter mills and tanning mills, and it passes into place names and surnames.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus has mills on hill paths.^[4][7]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in the Institutions.^[4][1][7]
• 838 – An English charter grants a mill on a stream.^[3]
• 10th century – Old English mylen “a mill” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late and Medieval Latin) A mill, especially a water mill.^[4][1][2][3]

Related words

• mola
• molō
• English mill

References

1. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
2. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e 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
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften