mollifico

Forms

mollificō (present infinitive mollificāre, perfect active mollificāvī, supine mollificātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Lewis & Short and Georges analyse it as from Latin mollis (“soft”) + faciō (“to make”).^[2][3][1] Gaffiot and Etymonline derive it instead from the adjective mollificus (“softening”),^[4][5] which the TLL in turn derives from ⟨mollis⟩ and ⟨facere⟩.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it from Caesarius' exhortatory letter to virgins, and the Latin–Greek glossaries equate it with Ancient Greek ἁπαλύνω (hapalúnō, “to soften”).^[2][3][7] The earliest dated record in the dictionaries is a Hungarian charter of 1339, of land made soft.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline calls it Late Latin.^[5] Gaffiot cites it from a spurious part of Macer Floridus for relaxing the bowels.^[4] Medieval writers used it of softening substances, as fire softens hard things, and figuratively;^[9] in Hungary it was used of land made soft for tilling, of purgatives, and of softening a stubborn mind,^[8] and Polish preachers spoke of softening a heart hardened by sin.^[10] Czech medieval Latin also used it for melting stones and glass and for lessening something.^[11]

English took it over as mollify in the late 14th century, first of softening a substance.^[5]

Timeline

• 1339 – A Hungarian charter speaks of land made soft.^[8]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as mollify.^[5]
• 1438 – A Hungarian charter mentions terrae arabiles mollificatae.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make soft, soften.^[2][1][9][8]
2. (medicine) To relax, loosen (the bowels).^[4][8]
3. (figurative) To soften, mollify (the mind or heart).^[9][8][10]
4. (Medieval Latin) To melt (precious stones, glass).^[11]
5. (Medieval Latin) To lessen, weaken.^[11]

Related words

• English mollify

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d e f g Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
11. ^ a b c 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