μῆλον

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation
 

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Multiple theories have been put forth.

Beekes declares it to be a Pre-Greek Mediterranean substrate borrowing, comparing it with Hittite [script needed] (mahla, “grape”).[1]

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. [2]

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.[3]

Alternative forms

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
Descendants

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Compare Old Irish mil (“small animal”), Dutch maal (“young cow”), Old Church Slavonic малъ (malŭ), and Old English smæl (English small).

Alternative forms

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.

References
  1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “μῆλον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, pages 943-944
  2. Kroonen, Guus (2016), “On the origin of Greek μῆλον, Latin mālum, Albanian mollë and Hittite šam(a)lu- ‘apple’”, in The Journal of Indo-European Studies‎, volume 44, pages 85-91
  3. Fenwick, Rhona S. H. (2016), “Descendants and ancestry of a Proto-Indo-European phytonym *meh₂l-”, in The Journal of Indo-European Studies, volume 44, pages 441-456

Further reading
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