Etymologically
Log in

mollitia

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word mollitia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ml̥d-u-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mollis
Latin mollitia

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɔlˈlɪ.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [molˈlit.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

mollitia f (genitive mollitiae); first declension[1] There is also a fifth-declension form mollitiēs, genitive mollitiēī.[2][3][4] Manuscripts sometimes spell it with -lic-.[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin mollis (“soft”) + -itia.[2][1][4] De Vaan traces mollis through ⟨*molwi-⟩ and ⟨*moldu̯i-⟩ to Proto-Italic *moldu-(i-) and Proto-Indo-European *ml̥d-u- (“soft”), an old u-stem adjective remade as an i-stem in Latin.[5] He compares Welsh blydd (“soft”) and Sanskrit मृदु (mr̥du-, “delicate, soft”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[5] who in the Vidularia speaks of a body made white by city softness and shade.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is softness or tenderness, the bodily softness thought typical of women and the young, and gentleness of expression.[2] Cicero uses it of the tender state of creatures just born and of the suppleness of the neck, and Tacitus of a mild climate.[2] It is also physical weakness, as of Cicero's friend Nicias, and leniency or mildness of mind.[2] Most often, usually with ⟨animī⟩, it is weakness of character, effeminacy or cowardice;[2] Gellius uses it of licentiousness in songs, and it can mean luxury.[2] Lewis & Short note that both forms are classical.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the softness of city life.[2][5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of tenderness, suppleness and weakness.[2][6]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of mild decrees.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a mild climate.[2][6]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of licentiousness.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Softness, tenderness; gentleness of expression.[2][3][1]
  2. Mildness of climate.[2]
  3. Suppleness, flexibility, pliancy.[2][3][1]
  4. Physical softness, feebleness.[2]
  5. Leniency, mildness; sensitivity;[2] mollitia frontis, shyness.[2]
  6. Weakness of mind or character, effeminacy, cowardice.[2][3][1]
  7. Licentiousness, sexual immorality.[2]
  8. Luxury.[2]
  • molle
  • mollēscō
  • mollicellus
  • mollicīna
  • mollicomus
  • molliculus
  • mollificō
  • mollificus
  • mollīmentum
  • molliō
  • mollis

References

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

“Mollitia.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mollitia. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·