Etymograph

English

malleable

Malleable comes from Latin malleāre ‘to hammer’, from Proto-Indo-European *mal-ni- ‘crushing’, and ultimately from *melh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-‘crush, grind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mal-ni-‘crushing’reconstructedextended variant of *melh₂-
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalleus‘hammer’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalleāre‘to hammer’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmalleābilis
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600malléable
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2024malleable

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-‘crush, grind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mal-ni-‘crushing’reconstructedextended variant of *melh₂-
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalleus‘hammer’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalleāre‘to hammer’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmalleābilis
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600malléable
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2024malleable

Earliest quotation: 2024, Lorna Camus, Autistic Traits and Psychosocial Predictors of Depressive Sy: “The psychosocial factors in this study are malleable and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ‘crush, grind’

mill, mild, meal, mold, mould, mole, mule, camo, bonanza, molar, melatonin, muller, moulin, mull, moline, maelstrom, amalgam, martel, amyl, malm, 41 more

through Latin malleus ‘hammer’

maul, 3 more

Today it means

adj Able to be hammered into thin sheets; capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- / malleable

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