Etymologically
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mollis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmɔl.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔl.lis][1]

Forms

mollis (neuter molle, comparative mollior, superlative mollissimus, adverb molliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *moldus (“soft”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus (“soft”), through *moldu̯i- and *mollwi-: Latin remade u-stem adjectives as i-stems.[2][1] The older u-stem survives in molluscus.[2] Cognate with Sanskrit मृदु (mṛdú-, “soft, delicate”), Welsh blydd (“soft”) and Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius, whose cranes set down their supple legs.[5][3] De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant yielding to the touch, soft, as Plautus' mist, of the body soft or flabby, and tender, typical of women or used of effeminate men.[3] It also meant supple, flexible, as Virgil's pliant rush, physically weak, as the soft bodies of the Gauls in Livy, and of terrain easy to cross.[3][6] Figuratively it meant gentle, mild, pleasant, and in a bad sense soft, unmanly.[7][6]

It survives in Italian molle, French mou, Spanish muelle and Romanian moale.[1] English mollify comes through Late Latin mollificāre in the late 14th century, and English mollusk through the New Latin Mollusca.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the supple legs of cranes.[3][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of soft mist.[3][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the soft bodies of the Gauls.[3][5]
  • late 14th century – English mollify is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Soft, yielding to the touch.[3]
  2. (of the body) Flabby, flaccid.[3]
  3. Tender, delicate; effeminate.[3]
  4. Supple, flexible.[3]
  5. Physically weak, feeble.[3]
  6. (of terrain) Easy to cross.[3]
  7. Gentle, mild.[7][6]

Word family

  • mollicellus
  • mollicomus
  • molliculus
  • mollificō
  • mollificus
  • molliō
  • mollipēs
  • mollitiēs
  • mollitūdō
  • molluscus
  • permollis
  • praemollis
  • English mollify
  • English mollusk

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com