English
mulct
Mulct comes from Middle French mulcter ‘to fine, punish’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *moltā ‘a monetary penalty’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moltā‘a monetary penalty’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultaas mulcta‘penalty, fine’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mulcter‘to fine, punish’
- Englishearliest quotation 1819mulct
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moltā‘a monetary penalty’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultaas mulcta‘penalty, fine’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mulcter‘to fine, punish’
- Englishearliest quotation 1819mulct
Earliest quotation: 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan: “juries cast up what a wife is worth, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘good, big’
mole, amelia, dulcimer, 27 more
through Proto-Italic *moltos ‘many’
Today it means
noun A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *moltā / mulct