μέλι Ancient Greek · revision 2350

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)|origins=ine-pro *mélit}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /mé.li/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈme.li/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈme.li/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''μέλῐ''' (méli) ''n'' (genitive μέλῐτος); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ [[gmy|me-ri]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*méli]],^(Wiktionary) [[inh|ine-pro|*mélit|t=honey]], an old inherited neuter.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) It is formally identical with [[hit|milit]]; the Greek verb [[βλίττω|tr=blíttō]] and the Hittite stem [[m|hit|malit-]] show that the root once had ablaut, with a genitive [[m|ine-pro|*mlit-ós]].^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ With a thematic suffix the word appears in [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌸|tr=miliþ]] and [[sq|mjaltë]], from [[ine-pro|*meli-t-o-]]; [[sga|mil]] and [[la|mel]] may also go back to [[m|ine-pro|*meli-t-]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) [[xcl|մեղր|tr=mełr]] passed to the u-stems, probably under the influence of the synonymous word continued in [[μέθυ|tr=méthu]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ [[μέλισσα|tr=mélissa]] “bee” is perhaps shortened by haplology from a compound meaning “honey-licker”, or derived from the stem of μέλι.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mycenaean tablets already record honey as me-ri.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) In Homer it is honey, often “pale” (χλωρόν), and the image of sweetness: a voice “flowed sweeter than honey”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Comparisons with honey run through Greek poetry, for song and eloquence (Pindar, Moschus); Aristophanes called Sophocles “honey-smeared”.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Herodotus applied it to a syrup made from palms and other fruits and cereals, and later writers to sweet gums or manna collected from trees, and to “mad” honey (Strabo).^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ In the Septuagint the promised land is the “land flowing with milk and honey”, and honey stands for sweet words; in the New Testament the “wild honey” of Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6 is food in the wilderness.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000) Medieval Greek used it figuratively for anything delightful, including the sweetness of love, and [[el|μέλι|tr=méli]] is unchanged today; the learned genitive survives in “honeymoon”, μήνας του μέλιτος.^(Kriaras)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – honey (me-ri) on the Linear B tablets.^(Beekes 2010)

+ * Homer – honey, and the image of a sweet voice.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 7th–6th century BC – Sappho's proverb “neither honey nor bee for me”, of those who refuse the rough with the smooth.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus describes honey made from palms.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes calls Sophocles “smeared with honey”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – the Gospels mention “wild honey” (Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6).^(BDAG 2000)

+ * Modern Greek – μέλι, with “honeymoon” (μήνας του μέλιτος).^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|honey|alt=Honey]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Anything sweet, especially song, poetry and eloquence.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Sweet liquid, [[m|en|syrup]] made from fruits and cereals.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Sweet gum collected from certain trees, [[m|en|manna]], including the “wild honey” of the New Testament.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[μελίγλωσσος|tr=melíglōssos]]

+ * [[μελίκρατον|tr=melíkrāton]]

+ * [[μέλισσα|tr=mélissa]]

+ * [[μέλιττα|tr=mélitta]]

+ * [[μελίφρων|tr=melíphrōn]]

+ * [[θαλασσόμελι|tr=thalassómeli]]

+ * [[μελίμηλον|tr=melímēlon]]

+ * [[μελίπτορθος|tr=melíptorthos]]

+ * [[μελίτινος|tr=melítinos]]

+ * [[ὑδρόμελι|tr=hudrómeli]]

+ * [[μελιτόεις|tr=melitóeis]]

+ * [[μελίχρως|tr=melíkhrōs]]

+ * [[μελιτοῦττα|tr=melitoûtta]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|marmalade]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Suda notes that honey is sweet to the taste but bitter in its effects, since it was thought to produce bile.^(Suda)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}