mell

See also: Mell, mẹll, mełł, mèll, and mëll

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

From Middle English melen, mælen, from Old English mǣlan (“to speak, talk”), from mǣl (“speech, talk, conversation; dispute, contest, battle”) and māl (“suit, case, action, terms, agreement, covenanted pay”), both from Proto-Germanic *mahlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), alteration of *maþlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to meet, encounter”). Cognate with Scots mele (“to speak, converse, tell”), Danish mæle (“to speak, utter”), Icelandic mæla (“to speak, say”), Old High German mahalōn (“to charge, accuse, proscecute”), German vermählen (“to wed, marry”). More at blackmail.

Alternative forms

• mele

Verb

mell (third-person singular simple present mells, present participle melling, simple past and past participle melled)

1. (UK, dialectal, transitive) To say (something); to speak, to tell.

Noun

mell

1. (UK dialectal) Discourse; conversation.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mellen, medlen, from Old French meller, mesler (“to mix, mingle”). Doublet of meddle.

Verb

mell (third-person singular simple present mells, present participle melling, simple past and past participle melled)

1. (intransitive, obsolete or dialectal) To deal, concern oneself; to interfere or meddle.
   • c. 1495, John Skelton, Vppon a deedman's hed:

     For wher so we dwell / Deth wyll us qwell / And with us mell.

   • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iulye. Ægloga Septima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 29, recto:

     Here is a great deale of good matter, / loſt for lacke of telling, / Now ſicker I see, thou doeſt but clatter: / harme may come of melling.

   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 250, column 1:

     And ſay a ſouldier (Dian) told thee this: / Men are to mell with, boyes are not to kis.

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 57:

     “By Saint Thomas of Kent,” said he, “an I buckle to my gear, I will teach thee to mell with thine own matters, maugre thine iron case there.”

Etymology 3

From Middle English mel, mell, melle, from Latin mell-, mel. Doublet of mel.

Noun

mell (uncountable)

2. (obsolete) Honey.
   • 1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XX.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 86:

     Her ſmyles were ſober, and her lookes were chearfull vnto all: / And ſuch as neither wanton ſeeme, noꝛ waward, mell, noꝛ gall.

Etymology 4

Noun

mell (uncountable)

1. The last grain cut at harvest; kern

Etymology 5

A variant form of maul.

Noun

mell (plural mells)

1. (dialectal) A heavy hammer or beetle of metal or wood.
2. (obsolete) A mace or club.
3. (obsolete) A chairman's hammer.

See also

• mell of a hess
• pell-mell

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *melsā (“knuckle”); possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mel (“limb”).

Noun

mell

1. joint

References

• 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
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Self-published: Xlibris, →ISBN

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish mel, from Proto-Celtic *melsā (“knuckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“joint, limb”). Cognate with Breton mell, Irish and Scottish Gaelic meall, and more distantly Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos).

Noun

mell m (plural mellow)

1. connection, joint, link

   Synonyms: junyans, kevals, kolm

Derived terms

• ger mell (“article (grammar)”)
• mell dorn (“knuckle”)
• mell keyn (“spine”)
• mellek (“jointed”)
• mellen (“conjunction”)
• mellya (“blend, link”, verb)

Verb

mell

1. inflection of mellya:
   1. third-person singular present indicative/future indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Mutation

Mutation of mell

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
mell	vell	unchanged	unchanged	fell, vell*

* after 'th
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• melly (dialectal or archaic)

Etymology

From Proto-Finno-Ugric *mälke. Cognates include Southern Mansi [script needed] (møul), Eastern Mansi мавлын (mavlyn) and Northern Mansi ма̄гыл (māgyl, “breast”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛlː]
• Rhymes: -ɛlː

Noun

mell (plural mellek)

1. (anatomy) breast

   Synonyms: (formal or technical) emlő, (literary, also figurative) kebel, (dated, dialectal, or vulgar) csecs, (vulgar) csöcs, (colloquial or slang) cici

2. (anatomy, in certain compounds and phrases) chest

   Synonym: mellkas

3. (anatomy, attributive usage) thoracic

   mellüreg ― thoracic cavity

4. (swimming) ellipsis of mellúszás (“breaststroke”)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	mell	mellek
accusative	mellet	melleket
dative	mellnek	melleknek
instrumental	mellel	mellekkel
causal-final	mellért	mellekért
translative	mellé	mellekké
terminative	mellig	mellekig
essive-formal	mellként	mellekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	mellben	mellekben
superessive	mellen	melleken
adessive	mellnél	melleknél
illative	mellbe	mellekbe
sublative	mellre	mellekre
allative	mellhez	mellekhez
elative	mellből	mellekből
delative	mellről	mellekről
ablative	melltől	mellektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	mellé	melleké
non-attributive possessive – plural	melléi	mellekéi

Possessive forms of mell

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	mellem	melleim
2nd person sing.	melled	melleid
3rd person sing.	melle	mellei
1st person plural	mellünk	melleink
2nd person plural	melletek	melleitek
3rd person plural	mellük	melleik

Derived terms

• mellesleg
• mellett
• mellék
• mellény
• mellső
• mellű

Compound words

• mellbimbó
• mellbőség
• mellcsont
• mellhártya
• mellkas
• mellszobor
• melltartó
• mellúszás
• mellüreg
• mellvezeték

Expressions

• mellbe vág
• mellre szív
• veri a mellét

See also

• mál – archaic or dialectal variant preserved in toponyms and compounds

Further reading

• mell in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Maltese

Root
m-l-l
3 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛll/
• Rhymes: -ɛll

Etymology 1

Inherited from Arabic مَلَّ (malla).

Verb

mell (imperfect jmell, verbal noun mella)

1. to abhor, to dislike

Conjugation

Conjugation of mell (Form I, geminate, e ~ e)

positive forms
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	mellejt	mellejt	mell	mellejna	mellejtu	mellew
	f			mellet
imperfect	m	mmell	tmell	jmell	mmellu	tmellu	jmellu
	f			tmell
imperative			mell			mellu
negative forms
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	mellejtx	mellejtx	mellx	mellejniex	mellejtux	mellewx
	f			mellitx
imperfect	m	mmellx	tmellx	jmellx	mmellux	tmellux	jmellux
	f			tmellx
imperative			tmellx			tmellux

Etymology 2

Inherited from Arabic مَلّ (mall).

Noun

mell m

1. blight

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish meld, from Proto-Celtic *meldos (compare Middle Welsh blyð (“soft”), from the alternative form *mlidos), from Proto-Indo-European *meld- (“tender, mild, soft”) (compare Sanskrit मृदु (mṛdu), Latin mollis, Ancient Greek βλαδύς (bladús, “weak”), Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ, “young”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʲel̪/

Adjective

mell

1. pleasant, delightful

Derived terms

• mellaid (“to beguile”)
  • Irish: meall (“to beguile”)
  • Scottish Gaelic: meall (“to beguile”)

Descendants

• Irish: meall (“pleasant”)
  • ⇒ Irish: meallach

Mutation

Mutation of mell

radical	lenition	nasalization
mell also mmell after a proclitic ending in a vowel	mell pronounced with /β̃(ʲ)-/	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “3 mell”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʲel̪/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *mellos (“destruction, confusion”) (compare Tocharian B mäl- (“to wound, damage”) and possibly Latin malus (“bad”).

Noun

mell m

1. (rare, chiefly in glossaries) destruction, confusion

Derived terms

• millid

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 mell”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *melsā (“knuckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“limb, joint”), see also Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos), Transalpine Gaulish placename Melodunum.

Noun

mell m

1. ball, sphere
2. round protuberance

Declension

Masculine o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	mell	mellL	millL
vocative	mill	mellL	millu?H
accusative	mellN	mellL	millu?H
genitive	millL	mell	mellN
dative	miullL	mellaib	mellaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: meall (“ball”)
• Scottish Gaelic: meall (“lump”)

Mutation

Mutation of mell

radical	lenition	nasalization
mell also mmell in h-prothesis environments	mell pronounced with /β̃ʲ-/	mell also mmell

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Tarifit

Root
m-l-l
1 term

Etymology

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic مل (mall), from Arabic مَلَّ (malla).

Pronunciation

• (Nador) IPA^(key): [məlː]
• Syllabification: mell
• Rhymes: -əlː

Verb

mell (verbal noun amelli, Tifinagh spelling ⵎⴻⵍⵍ) (transitive)

1. to tired of, to be fed up with

Conjugation

Conjugation of mell

aorist perfective negative perfective imperfective negative imperfective participle imellen imellen imellen yettmellan yettmellin singular plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person aorist m melleɣ tmelled imell nmell tmellem mellen f tmell tmellent mellent perfective m melleɣ tmelled imell nmell tmellem mellen f tmell tmellent mellent negative perfective m melleɣ tmelled imell nmell tmellem mellen f tmell tmellent mellent imperfective m ttmelliɣ tettmellid yettmella nettmella tettmellam ttmellan f tettmella tettmellant ttmellant negative imperfective m ttmelliɣ tettmellid yettmelli nettmelli tettmellim ttmellin f tettmelli tettmellint ttmellint aorist imperative m mell mellem, mellet f mellent imperfective imperative m ttmella ttmellam, ttmellat f ttmellant injunctive m nmellet f nmellent

References

• Serhoual (2002)
• Bouyaala (2024)

Yola

Etymology 1

From Middle English mellen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛl/

Verb

mell

1. to meddle
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Dinna mell wi' it.

     Don't meddle with it.

Etymology 2

Noun

mell

1. alternative form of mele

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 56