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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
Appendix I Indo-European Roots |
| ENTRY: | mel-1 |
| DEFINITION: | Soft; with derivatives referring to soft or softened materials of various kinds. I. Extended form *meld-. 1. melt, from Old English meltan, to melt, from Germanic *meltan. 2. Possibly Germanic *miltja-. milt, from Old English milte, spleen, and Middle Dutch milte, milt. 3. Possibly Germanic *malta-. malt, from Old English mealt, malt. 4. Suffixed variant form *mled-sno-. blenny, from Greek blennos, slime, also a name for the blenny. 5. Suffixed zero-grade form *m  d-wi-. moil, mollify, mollusk, mouillé; emollient, from Latin mollis, soft. 6. Possibly nasalized variant form *mlad-. bland, blandish, from Latin blandus, smooth, caressing, flattering, soft-spoken. II. Variant form *smeld-. a. smelt1, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten, to smelt; b. schmaltz, from Old High German smalz, animal fat; c. smalt, from Italian smalto, enamel, glaze; d. enamel, from Old French esmail, enamel. a–d all from Germanic *smelt-; e. smelt2, from Old English smelt, smylt, a marine fish, smelt, perhaps from Germanic *smelt-. III. Extended form *meldh-. 1. mild, from Old English milde, mild, from Germanic *mildja-. 2. Possibly Greek maltha, a mixture of wax and pitch: maltha. IV. Suffixed form *mel-sko-. mulch, from Old English mel(i)sc, mylsc, mild, mellow, from Germanic *mil-sk-. V. Extended form *m  k-. bonanza, chondromalacia, malacology, osteomalacia, from Greek malakos, soft. VI. Possibly Celtic *molto-, sheep. mutton, from Old French moton, sheep. VII. Suffixed zero-grade form *( )ml-u-. amblygonite, amblyopia, from Greek amblus, blunt, dull, dim. (Pokorny 1. mel- 716.) |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. | |
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