μῶλυ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Generally compared to Sanskrit मूल (mū́la, “root, radish”). However, Beekes prefers to connect the word with μώλυζα (mṓluza, “head of garlic”), which has a non-Greek suffix. According to Beekes, this noun must consequently be of Pre-Greek origin too. For the υ-stem, compare μίσυ (mísu), βράθυ (bráthu) and σῶρυ (sôru). According to Beekes, all proposed Indo-European etymologies must be rejected.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mɔ̂ː.ly/ → /ˈmo.ly/ → /ˈmo.li/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mɔ̂ː.ly/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.ly/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.ly/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.ly/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.li/

Noun

μῶλῠ • (môlu) n (genitive μώλῠος); third declension

1. moly, a magic herb mentioned by Homer
2. (in later writers) kind of garlic (Allium nigrum)

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ μῶλῠ; τοῦ μώλῠος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ μῶλῠ tò môlu	τὼ μώλῠε tṑ mṓlue	τᾰ̀ μώλῠᾰ tà mṓlua
Genitive	τοῦ μώλῠος toû mṓluos	τοῖν μωλῠ́οιν toîn mōlúoin	τῶν μωλῠ́ων tôn mōlúōn
Dative	τῷ μώλῠῐ̈ tôi mṓluï	τοῖν μωλῠ́οιν toîn mōlúoin	τοῖς μώλῠσῐ / μώλῠσῐν toîs mṓlusi(n)
Accusative	τὸ μῶλῠ tò môlu	τὼ μώλῠε tṑ mṓlue	τᾰ̀ μώλῠᾰ tà mṓlua
Vocative	μῶλῠ môlu	μώλῠε mṓlue	μώλῠᾰ mṓlua
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: mōly
  • → English: moly
• → Ottoman Turkish: مولی (moli)

Further reading

• “μῶλυ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μῶλυ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μῶλυ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μῶλυ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• μῶλυ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN