malmsey English · revision 1285

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmɑːmzɪ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmɑ(l)mzi/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''malmesey'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) perhaps through Middle Dutch ''malemesye'' or Provençal,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[la-med|malmasia]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from Medieval Greek ''Monembasía'', the town of Monemvasia in the southern Peloponnese, an important wine centre in the Middle Ages.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The town's name means “(town of the) one entrance”, from its single causeway to the mainland.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A strong, sweet wine, originally from around Monemvasia (1407 in Barnhart; about 1400 in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The wine was later made in the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands, but kept its name.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A Madeira variety called ''malmsey madeira'' is recorded from 1723,^(Barnhart 1995) and Merriam-Webster now defines malmsey as the sweetest kind of Madeira.^(MW Collegiate) The word also named the grape (1511).^(OED 1989) Middle English also had ''malvesy'', from the Italian form ''malvasia''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1407 – ''malmesey''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1511 – the grape.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1723 – ''malmsey madeira''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sweet [[fortified wine]], originally made in Greece and now mainly in [[Madeira]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Madeira]]

+ * [[malvasia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}