English
molest
Molest comes from Latin molestō ‘to trouble, annoy, molest’, and goes back to molestus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmolestus‘troublesome’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmolestō‘to trouble, annoy, molest’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400molester
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500molesten‘to harm, disturb, or distress’
- Englishearliest quotation 1976molest
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmolestus‘troublesome’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmolestō‘to trouble, annoy, molest’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400molester
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500molesten‘to harm, disturb, or distress’
- Englishearliest quotation 1976molest
Earliest quotation: 1976, Nik Cohn, Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night: “At last he simmered down, choked out his explanations.…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₃- ‘to exert’
through Latin moles ‘a burden, difficulty, labor, trouble’
Today it means
verb To sexually assault or sexually harass.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin molestus / molest