Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mili

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mélit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.li/

Noun

*mili n

1. honey

Inflection

The nominative singular form lacks the final consonant of the stem, similar to *alu, due to Pre-Germanic loss of final *-t. However, in this case, *þ became *d in the oblique cases due to Verner's law.

neuter consonant stemDeclension of *mili (neuter consonant stem)
	singular
nominative	*mili
vocative	*mili
accusative	*mili
genitive	*milidiz
dative	*milidi
instrumental	*milidē

Derived terms

• *milidawwaz

Descendants

Mostly in compounds, where the first part was later reanalysed as meaning 'flour' in most languages.

• Old English: *mele (in compounds: mildēaw, meledēaw; milisc, melsc; milescian)
  • Middle English: meldeu, mildewe; melsche, molsh
    • English: mildew; mulch
• Old Saxon: milidou
  • Middle Low German: meldow
    • Low German: Meldau
• Old High German: militou
  • Middle High German: miltou
    • German: Meltau, Mehltau
      • → Dutch: meeldauw
• Gothic: 𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌸 (miliþ)