Etymograph

English

Imbolc

Imbolc comes from Old Irish Imbolc, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- ‘to milk’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂melǵ-‘to milk’root as named
  2. Old Irishc. 600–900Imbolc
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1862same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂melǵ-‘to milk’root as named
  2. Old Irishc. 600–900Imbolc
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1862same form

Earliest quotation: 1862, Eugene O’Curry, Lecture XXX. [Of Music and Musical Instruments in Ancient Er: “[T]hat the ancient Irish, at some remote period, did…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- ‘to milk’

milk, emulsion, promulgation, milch, 2 more

Today it means

name A Gaelic and Wiccan festival celebrated on 1 or 2 February which marks the beginning of spring.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- / Imbolc

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