molinarius

Forms

molīnārius m (genitive molīnāriī or molīnārī); second declension^[1] Medieval documents spell it in many ways, among them mulinarius, molnarius, munarius and molinerius.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin molīna (“mill”) + -ārius,^[1][3][4] and goes back through molīnus (“of a mill”) to mola (“millstone”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Gregory of Tours, in the 6th century, where it means a miller.^[3]

Semantic evolution

An inscription uses the plural for a guild of millers, and the glossaries render it with Greek ὑδραλέτης (hudralétēs, “water-miller”).^[4][5] It appears in the Germanic law codes,^[3] and Niermeyer records it both as an adjective, of a mill, and as the usual medieval noun for the miller.^[2]

In England Ælfric's glossary sets it beside molendinārius, with Old English mylenwyrd.^[6] Domesday Book lists a mill with its miller.^[6] In the 12th century it is also found as a surname.^[6]

Timeline

• 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it for a miller.^[3]
• 7th century – It appears in the law of the Alamanni.^[3]
• c. 1185 – It is used as a surname in a charter of Henry II.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A miller.^[1][5][2][6]
2. (plural) A guild of millers.^[4]

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Of a mill.^[2]

Related words

• molō
• English mill

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ 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