moly

See also: möly and молы

English

Etymology 1

From Latin mōly, from Ancient Greek μῶλυ (môlu) (probably a loanword).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊli/
• Rhymes: -əʊli

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

moly (countable and uncountable, plural molies)

1. (Greek mythology) A magic herb or plant used by Odysseus to overcome Circe.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 4, member 1, subsection iii:

     It excels Homers moly, cures this, falling sickness, and almost all other infirmities.

   • 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 114:

     Or, propt on beds of amaranth and moly, / How sweet (while warm airs lull us, blowing lowly,)

   • 1980, Homer, translated by Walter Shrewing, The Odyssey, Oxford, published 1998, page 120:

     So spoke the Radiant One; then gave me the magic herb, pulling it from the ground and showing me in what form it grew; its root was black, its flower milk-white. Its name among the gods is moly.

   • 2018, Madeline Miller, Circe, Bloomsbury 2019, p. 113:

     I would need all the secret herbs of Dicte […] . I would need as well the rest of my moly stores.

2. Any plant associated with the mythological moly, especially the European allium, Allium moly.

Etymology 2

Clipping of molybdenum.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒli
• Homophone: molly

Noun

moly (uncountable)

1. (informal) Molybdenum.
   • 1990, John Wegg, General Dynamics Aircraft and Their Predecessors, page 55:

     The fuselage and tail unit were constructed of welded chrome-moly steel tubing, fabric covered, with two seats in one elongated open 'bathtub' cockpit.

2. (slang) Molybdenum grease.

Derived terms

• moly cow

Anagrams

• mylo-

French

Noun

moly m (plural molys)

1. moly (plant)

Further reading

• “moly”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from a Slavic language. Compare Czech mol and Slovak moľ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmoj]
• Hyphenation: moly
• Rhymes: -oj

Noun

moly (plural molyok)

1. moth (a usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	moly	molyok
accusative	molyt	molyokat
dative	molynak	molyoknak
instrumental	mollyal	molyokkal
causal-final	molyért	molyokért
translative	mollyá	molyokká
terminative	molyig	molyokig
essive-formal	molyként	molyokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	molyban	molyokban
superessive	molyon	molyokon
adessive	molynál	molyoknál
illative	molyba	molyokba
sublative	molyra	molyokra
allative	molyhoz	molyokhoz
elative	molyból	molyokból
delative	molyról	molyokról
ablative	molytól	molyoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	molyé	molyoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	molyéi	molyokéi

Possessive forms of moly

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	molyom	molyaim
2nd person sing.	molyod	molyaid
3rd person sing.	molya	molyai
1st person plural	molyunk	molyaink
2nd person plural	molyotok	molyaitok
3rd person plural	molyuk	molyaik

Derived terms

• molyos
• molytalan

Compound words

• barackmoly
• fenyőtű-aknázómoly
• fenyőtű-borzasmoly
• hagymamoly
• könyvmoly
• molyette
• molyirtó
• molykár
• molylepke
• molyrágás
• molyzsák

Expressions

• barackrágó sarlósmoly
• mezei gabonamoly
• répaaknázó moly

See also

• lepke
• pillangó
• Appendix:Hungarian words with ly

Further reading

• moly 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.

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μῶλυ (môlu).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmoː.ly]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɔː.li]

Noun

mōly n (genitive mōlyos); third declension

1. Moly, a magic herb used by Odysseus to ward him from the spells of Circe.
2. A plant comparable with the mythological moly, especially the European allium, Allium moly.

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant, neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	mōly	mōlya
genitive	mōlyos	mōlyum
dative	mōlyī	mōlyibus
accusative	mōly	mōlya
ablative	mōlye	mōlyibus
vocative	mōly	mōlya

Descendants

• → English: moly

References

• “moly”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “moly”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “moly”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “moly”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 990.

Slovincian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel-der.

Proto-Balto-Slavic *mṓˀlas

Proto-Slavic *màlъ

Slovincian moly

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *màlъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.lɪ/
• Rhymes: -ɔlɪ
• Syllabification: mo‧ly

Adjective

moly (comparative mjênszy, superlative nomjênszy, derived adverb malô)

1. little, small (not big)

   Antonym: wjelgjy

Further reading

• Lorentz, Friedrich (1908), “mǻu̯lï”, in Slovinzisches Wörterbuch‎^[1] (in German), volume 1, Saint Petersburg: ОРЯС ИАН, page 620