μῆλον

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mɛ̂ː.lon/ → /ˈmi.lon/ → /ˈmi.lon/

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

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Multiple theories have been put forth.

Beekes declares it to be a Mediterranean substrate borrowing, comparing it with Hittite [script needed] (mahla, “grape”).

Kroonen (2016) reconstructs a byform *smh₂l-, from which he also derives Hittite [script needed] (šam(a)lu-, “apple”). He also connects this word with Proto-Kartvelian *msxal- (“pear”) and proposes that the Indo-European words may have come from a metathesis of that Kartvelian word.

However, Fenwick (2016) argues for an Indo-European origin of both μῆλον and [script needed] (šam(a)lu-, “apple”), deriving them from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-. She proposes the existence of an -l- deverbal suffixed onto that root (which she concludes also occurred when Proto-Germanic *wibilaz (“weevil”) was derived from *webʰ-), leading to a new root.

Alternative forms

• μᾶλον (mâlon) — Doric, Aeolic

Noun

μῆλον • (mêlon) n (genitive μήλου); second declension

1. apple
2. any fruit from a tree
3. (figuratively, in the plural) a woman's breast
4. (in the plural) cheeks

Declension

Second declension of τὸ μῆλον; τοῦ μήλου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon	τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō	τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla
Genitive	τοῦ μήλου toû mḗlou	τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin	τῶν μήλων tôn mḗlōn
Dative	τῷ μήλῳ tôi mḗlōi	τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin	τοῖς μήλοις toîs mḗlois
Accusative	τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon	τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō	τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla
Vocative	μῆλον mêlon	μήλω mḗlō	μῆλᾰ mêla
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ᾰ̔μᾰμηλῐ́ς (hamamēlís)
• μήλινος (mḗlinos)
• Φιλομήλη (Philomḗlē)

 

Descendants

• Greek: μήλο (mílo)
• Tsakonian: μάλι (máli)
• Latin: mālum, mēlum, mēlo
• Albanian: mollë (via Doric μᾶλα (mâla, “apples”))

Etymology 2

Uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₁l- (“small animal”). Compare Old Irish mil (“small animal”), Dutch maal (“young cow”), Old Church Slavonic малъ (malŭ), and Old English smæl (English small).

Alternative forms

• μεῖλον (meîlon) — Boeotian

Noun

μῆλον • (mêlon) n (genitive μήλου); second declension

1. sheep
2. goat
3. beast

Declension

Second declension of τὸ μῆλον; τοῦ μήλου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon	τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō	τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla
Genitive	τοῦ μήλου toû mḗlou	τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin	τῶν μήλων tôn mḗlōn
Dative	τῷ μήλῳ tôi mḗlōi	τοῖν μήλοιν toîn mḗloin	τοῖς μήλοις toîs mḗlois
Accusative	τὸ μῆλον tò mêlon	τὼ μήλω tṑ mḗlō	τᾰ̀ μῆλᾰ tà mêla
Vocative	μῆλον mêlon	μήλω mḗlō	μῆλᾰ mêla
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “μῆλον (Α)”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μῆλον (Β)”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μῆλον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μῆλον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μῆλον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “μῆλον”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• μῆλον in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • apple idem, page 35.