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molior

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word molior

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (mōlēs)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin molior
Latin molitor

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmoː.li.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɔː.li.or][1]

Forms

mōlior (present infinitive mōlīrī or mōlīrier, perfect active mōlītus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent[1] Lucretius has the infinitive mōlīrier.[2][1] An active mōliō is also found.[3]

Etymology

It is formed from mōlēs (“mass, bulk; great effort”).[3][4][1] De Vaan sets up a Proto-Italic noun or adjective ⟨*mōlo-⟩ “labour, effort” with a verb ⟨*mōl-i-je-⟩ “to labour”; since ⟨mōlēs⟩ is attested later than the verb, it may also have been formed from it.[5] He relates molestus through an s-stem ⟨*melos⟩ “trouble”, and notes that this rules out the derivation from ⟨*m(e)h₃-l-⟩ in LIV.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Bacchides: īnsānum magnum mōlior negōtium, “I am setting up a mad, huge piece of business”.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb expresses effort against weight: to labour to bring something about, to strive (Plautus: viden ut miserē mōliuntur?, “see how hard they struggle?”), and to build something large, such as the walls and citadel of Carthage in Virgil.[3][1] It also means to set in motion with effort: to hurl missiles, to get a fleet under way, to wield an axe, to weigh anchor (Livy), to stir the soil with iron (Lucretius).[3] Figuratively it is to rouse a person, to unsettle someone's loyalty, to make one's way with difficulty (Livy of Hannibal), and to force something from its place.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “plot, undertake, devise, practise”, and Wiktionary adds “to attempt, stir up”.[6][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of engineering a scheme and of struggling.[3][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of working the fields.[3][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of building a citadel.[3][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of weighing anchor and of Hannibal on the move.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To labour to bring about, engineer, undertake.[3][1]
  2. To make efforts, strive, toil.[3][1]
  3. To build, construct (something large).[3][1]
  4. To set in motion; to hurl; to wield; to shift, stir.[3][1]
  5. To rouse; to unsettle; to stir up, plot.[3][1][6]
  6. To make one's way with effort.[3]
  7. To force from its place.[3]

Word family

  • admōlior
  • āmōlior
  • commōlior
  • dēmōlior
  • ēmōlior
  • mōlīmen
  • mōlīmentum
  • mōlītiō
  • obmōlior
  • praemōlior
  • remōlior

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Molior.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/molior. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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