Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: meli-t, genitive mel-nés 'honey'
Semantic Field(s): Honey
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Old Irish: | mil | n | honey | LRC |
| milis | adj | sweet | LRC | |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | meledēaw | n | mildew | W7 |
| Middle English: | mellilot | n | melilot | W7 |
| mildew | n | mildew | W7 | |
| ydromel | n | hydromel | W7 | |
| English: | hydromel | n | honey diluted in water (then fermented to become mead) | AHD/W7 |
| marmalade | n | clear jellylike fruit preserve | AHD | |
| melilot | n | sweet clover | AHD/W7 | |
| melliferous | adj | yielding/producing honey | AHD/W7 | |
| mildew | n | whitish fungi growing on organic matter | AHD/W7 | |
| molasses | n | thick brown viscid syrup made from sugar | AHD/W7 | |
| mousse | n | light spongy food containing cream/gelatin | AHD/W7 | |
| oenomel | n | ancient Greek beverage: wine and honey | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old High German: | militou | n | honeydew | W7 |
| milska | n | sweet mixed drink | LRC | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | milith | n | honey | LRC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | hydromeli | n.neut | hydromel | W7 |
| mel, mellis | n.neut | honey | W7 | |
| melimēlum | n.neut | must-apple, honey-apple | AHD/ELD | |
| mellifer | adj | that makes/brings honey | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | mellaceum | n.neut | grape juice | W7 |
| mulsa | n.fem | hydromel | W7 | |
| oenomeli | n.neut | hydromel | W7 | |
| Portuguese: | marmelada | n | marmalade | AHD |
| melaço | n.masc | molasses | W7 | |
| Middle French: | melilot | n.masc | melilot (a flower) | W7 |
| ydromel | n.masc | hydromel | W7 | |
| French: | marmelade | n | marmalade | AHD |
| mousse | n.fem | mousse, foam | W7 | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | meli | n.neut | honey | W7 |
| melilōtos | n.neut | melilot | W7 | |
| oinomeli | n.neut | oenomel, lit. wine and honey | W7 | |
| hydromeli | n.neut | hydromel, lit. water and honey | W7 | |
| Anatolian | ||||
| Luwian: | mallit- | n | honey | LRC |
| Hittite: | milit- | n | honey | LRC |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ELD | = | Charlton T. Lewis: An Elementary Latin Dictionary (1999) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |