mel Latin · revision 31005

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *mélit}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmɛɫ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɛl]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mel''' ''n'' (genitive mellis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*meli]], [[inh|ine-pro|*mélit|t=honey]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Cognate with [[sga|mil|t=honey]], [[cy|mel|t=honey]], [[hit|militt-|t=honey]], [[grc|μέλι|tr=méli|t=honey]] (genitive ⟨μέλιτος⟩) and [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌸|tr=miliþ|t=honey]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) The geminate of the genitive ⟨mellis⟩ is disputed: Leumann took ⟨mell-⟩ as a secondary form after [[m|la|fel|t=bile]], genitive ⟨fellis⟩, and Sihler derives it from an old paradigm with a stem ending in a dental.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, ''Mercator'': a resin from Egypt is to be swallowed ''ex melle'', “in honey”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the food it is honey as a preservative, as Columella says every kind of fruit can be kept in it, and the type of sweetness: Plautus' ''melle dulcī dulcior'', “sweeter than sweet honey”.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is sweetness or charm, and in Plautus already a term of endearment, ''mel meum'', “my honey”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Pliny the Elder uses it of honey-like substances made by other insects or by plants.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “honey”.^(Stelten 1995) It lived on into the Middle Ages in laws, charters and glosses.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of honey, as a type of sweetness and as an endearment.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of honey as a preservative.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of honey-like substances.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|honey|alt=Honey]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(figuratively)'' Sweetness, pleasantness.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(term of endearment)'' Sweet, [[m|en|darling]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A honey-like substance made by insects other than bees or by plants.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[melculum]]

+ * [[mella]]

+ * [[mellārius]]

+ * [[mellātiō]]

+ * [[melleus]]

+ * [[melliculus]]

+ * [[mellifer]]

+ * [[mellifex]]

+ * [[mellificium]]

+ * [[mellificō]]

+ * [[mellificus]]

+ * [[mellifluēns]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[melina]]

+ * [[mellārium]]

+ * [[melliculum]]

+ * [[mellilla]]

+ * [[mellītulus]]

+ * [[mulsus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}