Etymograph

English

mallow

Mallow comes from Middle English malwe, and goes back to Latin malva.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalva
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150mealwe
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malwe
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611mallow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalva
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150mealwe
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malwe
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611mallow

Earliest quotation: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Gonzalo. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,—…”

Linked words

through Latin malva

mauve, 2 more

Today it means

noun Any of a group of flowering plants in several genera of the taxonomic family Malvaceae, especially of the genus Malva. Several species are edible by humans.

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

Etymograph / Latin malva / mallow

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