μήλη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Prellwitz proposed a derivation from the root of μαίομαι (maíomai, “to touch, examine”). Possible, but uncertain.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mɛ̌ː.lɛː/ → /ˈmi.li/ → /ˈmi.li/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mɛ̌ː.lɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈme̝.le̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.li/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.li/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.li/

Noun

μήλη • (mḗlē) f (genitive μήλης); first declension

1. (surgery) surgical probe

Inflection

First declension of ἡ μήλη; τῆς μήλης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μήλη hē mḗlē	τὼ μήλᾱ tṑ mḗlā	αἱ μῆλαι hai mêlai
Genitive	τῆς μήλης tês mḗlēs	τοῖν μήλαιν toîn mḗlain	τῶν μηλῶν tôn mēlôn
Dative	τῇ μήλῃ têi mḗlēi	τοῖν μήλαιν toîn mḗlain	ταῖς μήλαις taîs mḗlais
Accusative	τὴν μήλην tḕn mḗlēn	τὼ μήλᾱ tṑ mḗlā	τᾱ̀ς μήλᾱς tā̀s mḗlās
Vocative	μήλη mḗlē	μήλᾱ mḗlā	μῆλαι mêlai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀμφίμηλον (amphímēlon)
• μηλαφάω (mēlapháō)
• μηλόω (mēlóō)
• μήλωθρον (mḗlōthron)
• μήλωσις (mḗlōsis)
• μηλωτή (mēlōtḗ)
• μηλωτίς (mēlōtís)
• μηλωτρίδιον (mēlōtrídion)
• μηλωτρίς (mēlōtrís)
• πλατυμήλη (platumḗlē)

 

Descendants

• → Arabic: مَيْل (mayl)
• → Ottoman Turkish: میل (mil)

References

• “μήλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μήλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μήλη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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