English
amalgam
Amalgam comes from Medieval Latin amalgama ‘mercury alloy’, from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم ‘emollient poultice or unguent for sores’, and ultimately from Ancient Greek μαλακός ‘soft’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμαλακόςmalakós‘soft’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμαλάσσωmalássō‘to soften’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμάλαγμαmálagma‘emollient’
- Arabicc. 500–presentاَلْمَلْغَمal-malḡam‘emollient poultice or unguent for sores’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500amalgama‘mercury alloy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610amalgam
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμαλακόςmalakós‘soft’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμαλάσσωmalássō‘to soften’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμάλαγμαmálagma‘emollient’
- Arabicc. 500–presentاَلْمَلْغَمal-malḡam‘emollient poultice or unguent for sores’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500amalgama‘mercury alloy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610amalgam
Earliest quotation: 1610, Ben[jamin] Jonson: “gold t’amalgam with some six of mercury”.
The story
For the verb, compare French amalgamer.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ‘soft, weak’
miller, mill, meal, mild, mold, mole, mould, mule, muller, molar, mullet, melatonin, mull, camo, moulin, moline, maelstrom, malleable, martel, amyl, malm, 39 more
through Proto-Hellenic *məlakos
Today it means
noun An alloy containing mercury.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek μαλακός / amalgam