η τὸ ἑφθὸν γλεῦκος

μελιτόν· κηρίον, ἢ τὸ ἑφθὸν γλεῦκος, Hsch.;

A v. μέλι.

Grammatical information: n.

Meaning: `honey' (Il.).

Dialectal forms: Myc. meri.

Compounds: Very often as 1. member, e.g. μελί-κρᾱ-τον, Ion. - κρη-τον "honey-mix", `sacrifice of milk and honey' (Od.), compound with κεράν-νυμι (s. v.); also μελιτο-, e.g. μελιτο-πώλης m. `honey-trader' (Ar.); as 2. member a. o. in οἰνό-μελι `drink from wine and honey' (Plb.; cf. Risch IF 59, 58); on ἀπό-μελι s. v.

Derivatives: A. Several adj.: μελιτόεις `honeysweet' (Pi.), f. μελιτόεσσα (sc. μᾶζα), Att. μελιτοῦττα `honey-cake' (Hdt., Ar.; Schwyzer 528, Chantraine Form. 272), μελιτ-ηρός `belonging to honey, honey-like' (Ar.. Thphr.), - ινος `made from h.' (pap.), - ώδης `honey-like' (Thphr.). Prob. also μελι-χρός `honey-sweet' (Alc., Anacr., Hp., Telecl., Theoc.), cf. πενι-χρός βδελυ-χ-ρός and Chantraine Form. 225 f., Hamm Grammatik 77 w. n. 118. Acc. to Sommer Nominalkomp. 26 n. 3 (where extensive treatment) however Aeol. for μελί-χρως `honey-coloured', after Schwyzer 450 for - χροος. -- B. Subst. μελίτ(ε)ιον n. `mead' (Plu.); μελιτόν κηρίον, η τὸ ἑφθὸν γλεῦκος H.; μελιτίτης ( λίθος) `topaz', ( οἶνος) `honey-wine' (Dsc.; Redard 57 a. 97); μελίτεια f. `Melissa officinalis' (Theoc.; Strömberg Pflanzennamen 119); μελιτισμός m. `treatment with h.' (medic.) as if from *μελιτίζειν. -- C. Verb. μελιτόομαι `mix with h., be sweetened with h.' (Th., Plu.) with μελίτωμα `honey-cake' (Com.), - ωσις `sweetening' ( Gloss.). -- On its own stands μέλισσα, - ττα f. `bee' (Il.), after Schwyzer Glotta 6, 84ff. (thus Fraenkel Glotta 32, 21) haplological for *μελί-λιχ-ι̯α "honey-leckering"; compare Skt. madhu-lih- m. "honey-lecker" = `bee'; acc. to others however from *μέλιτ-ι̯α, e.g. Lohmann Genus und Sexus (Erg. -h. 10 to KZ) 82 recalling Arm. meɫu `bee' from meɫr `honey' (thus Schwyzer 320). From it several compp. and derivv., e.g. μελισσουργός (- ττ-) `apiarist' (Pl., Arist.) with - έω, - ία, - εῖον, μελισσεύς `id.' (Arist., pap.; Boßhardt 61), also (with diff. origin) as PN (Boßhardt 123f.); μελίσσιον `bee-hive' (pap. III^a; Georgacas Glotta 36, 170), - ία `id.' (Gp.; Scheller Oxytonierung 45), - ών `id.' (LXX) etc. -- On βλίττω s. v.

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [723] *meli(t) `honey'

Etymology: Old inherited word for `honey', with Hitt. milit ( = melit) n. directly identical; further with thematic enlargment Goth. miliÞ and Alb. mjaltë (IE * meli-t-o-m). Also Celt., e.g. OIr. mil, and Lat. mel can go back on * meli-t; the -t was prob. originally only at home in the nom.-acc. (Unclear Lat. gen. mellis: from *mel-n-és?; cf. on μείλιχος). Arm. meɫr, gen. meɫu was supposedly after the synonymous *médhu (= μέθυ, s. v.) transferred to the u-stems. From unknown source stems μελίτιον πόμα τι Σκυθικὸν μέλιτος ἑψομένου σὺν ὕδατι καὶ πόᾳ τινί H. -- Details in WP. 2, 296, Pok. 723f., W.-Hofmann s. mel; cf. (on the spread) Porzig Gliederung 202 f.

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