English
milt
Milt comes from Middle English milte ‘spleen’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- ‘to beat, grind, crush, weaken’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-‘to beat, grind, crush, weaken’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*meltǭ‘spleen’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miltijāreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150milte‘milt, spleen’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘spleen’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603milt
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-‘to beat, grind, crush, weaken’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*meltǭ‘spleen’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miltijāreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150milte‘milt, spleen’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘spleen’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603milt
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “we see that certaine apprehensions engender a blushing-red colour,…”
The story
Outside Germanic, with Albanian mëlçi (‘liver’) and Italian milza (‘spleen’), which is a borrowing from Lombardic.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- ‘to beat, grind, crush, weaken’
email, melt, enamel, mojo, molten, moll, mojito, molt, schmaltz, 19 more
Today it means
noun The spleen, especially of an animal bred for food.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- / milt