muller

muller · noun¹

From mull (“to heat and spice, etc.”, verb) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

muller · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)meld-“to melt; to soften”
2. Latin · derived frommollis“soft”
3. Latin · derived frommolliāre
4. Vulgar Latin · derived from*molliāre
5. Old French · derived frommoillier
6. Middle English · inherited frommollen
7. English todaymuller

From mull (“to mix (clay and sand) under a roller to prepare a mould”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Mull is possibly derived from mull (“(chiefly Northern England) to grind to powder, crumble, powder, pulverize”), from Middle English mollen, mullen (“to moisten (something); to soften (something) by making wet; to become liquid; to drizzle; to crumble or soften (something) by grinding; to fondle or pet (something)”), from Old French moillier, muillier (“to make wet”) (modern French mouiller), and from its etymon Vulgar Latin *molliāre, *mulliāre (“to make wet”), from Latin molliāre, the present active infinitive of molliō (“to soften”), from Latin mollis (“soft”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“to melt; to soften”) or *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”)) + -iō (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives).

muller · noun, verb³

1. French · derived frommolette“pestle”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*melh₂-“to crush, grind”
3. Latin · derived frommolere
4. Old French · derived frommoldre
5. Middle English · inherited frommolour
6. English todaymuller

The noun is derived from Late Middle English molour, moler; further origin uncertain, possibly: * from mull (“(Northern England) something reduced to fine particles”, noun) or mull (“(chiefly Northern England) to grind to powder, crumble, powder, pulverize”, verb) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns) (see etymology 2); or * from an unattested Anglo-Norman or Middle French noun, from Old French moldre, moudre (“to grind”) (modern French moudre), from Latin molere, the present active infinitive of molō (“to grind, to mill”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”); or * a variant of mullet (“(obsolete) stone for grinding”) + -er; mullet is derived from French molette (“pestle”). The verb is derived from the noun.

muller · verb⁴

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*mer-“to die; to disappear”
2. Angloromani · derived frommul-
3. English todaymuller

Probably from Angloromani mul-, the preterite stem of mer- (“to die”) (compare mullered, mullo (“dead”, adjective); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to die; to disappear”)) + English -er (suffix forming frequentative verbs).

muller · verb⁵

1. German · borrowed fromMüller
2. English todaymuller

Borrowed from German Müller, the surname of Franz Müller (1840–1864), a German tailor who was convicted and hanged for the robbery and murder of Thomas Briggs, a British banker, on a train. Müller was found in possession of, among other things, Briggs’ top hat, which he had altered by reducing the height of the crown by half and resewing it to the brim.

Muller · proper noun⁶

1. German · borrowed fromMüller“miller”
2. English todayMuller

Borrowed from German Müller (“miller”). Doublet of Miller.

Words from the same roots