mild

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*melh₂-“to beat, pound, grind”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*mildijaz“mild”
3. Old English · inherited frommilde“mild”
4. Middle English · inherited frommilde
5. English todaymild

From Middle English milde, from Old English milde (“mild”), from Proto-Germanic *mildijaz (“mild”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to beat, pound, grind”). Cognate with Scots mild, myld (“mild”), Saterland Frisian milde (“mild”), West Frisian myld (“mild”), Dutch mild (“mild”), Low German milde (“mild”), German mild (“mild”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål mild (“mild”), Icelandic mildur (“mild”), Latin mollis (“soft, gentle”), Lithuanian malonus (“pleasing, pleasant, kind”), Old Norse mildr.

Words from the same roots