English
malacoderm
Malacoderm comes from Ancient Greek μαλακός ‘soft’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμαλακόςmalakós‘soft’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889malacoderm
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμαλακόςmalakós‘soft’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889malacoderm
Earliest quotation: 1889, Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwinism: “In the recently published volumes on the Longicorn and…”
Formed from -derm
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ‘soft, weak’
mill, meal, mild, mold, mole, mould, mule, camo, muller, mullet, mull, melatonin, molar, moulin, moline, maelstrom, malleable, martel, amyl, malm, 39 more
through Proto-Hellenic *məlakos
through Ancient Greek μαλακός ‘soft’
Today it means
noun One of a former tribe of beetles (Malacodermata), with a soft and flexible body.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek μαλακός / malacoderm