milch

M3I1L1C3H4
/mɪlt͡ʃ/

adjective

Used to produce milk; dairy.

OriginMiddle English mylche ← Old English *melċe ← Proto-West Germanic *milkī →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

adjectivemilch (not comparable)
  1. datednot comparableUsed to produce milk; dairy.

    so many cattle […] old cows and young cows; meek-eyed milch cows and fierce […] Texas steers.

    1906, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
  2. datednot comparableCurrently producing milk for its offspring.

    you must house your Milch-cows

    1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC
    1 more example

    She wildly breaketh from their strict embrace / Like a milch doe, whose swelling dugs do ache / Hasting to feed her fawn, hid in some break.

    1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC
  3. not comparableobsoleteTender; pitiful; weeping.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂melǵ-“to wipe, wipe off, milk”
  2. Proto-Germanic*melkaz“milky, milk-giving”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*milkī
  4. Old English*melċe
  5. Middle Englishmylche
  6. Englishmilch

From Middle English mylche, melche, from Old English *melċe, *milċe (attested in þrimilċe, þrimilċemōnaþ), from Proto-West Germanic *milkī, *malkī, from Proto-Germanic *melkaz (“milky, milk-giving”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to wipe, wipe off, milk”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian meelk (“milch”), Low German melke (“milch”), German melk (“milk-giving, milch”), Alemannic German mëlch (“milch, milkable”), Icelandic milkur, mjólkur (“milk-giving”). More at milk. Compare milchig.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian доен
  • доен (doen)giving milk
Czech dojný
  • dojnýgiving milk
Finnish lypsävä, lypsy-
  • lypsävägiving milk
  • lypsy-giving milk
German melk
  • melkgiving milk
Icelandic mjaltur
  • mjalturgiving milk
Irish bleacht, bainne
  • bleachtgiving milk
  • bainnegiving milk
Persian دنو
  • دنو (danu)giving milk
Polish dojny, mleczny
  • dojnygiving milk
  • mlecznygiving milk
Russian до́йная
  • до́йная (dójnaja)giving milk
Turkish sağmal
  • sağmalgiving milk
Welsh blith
  • blithgiving milk

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with milch

zilchpilchfilchsnilch
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Chmil
Cite this entry
APA

milch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milch

MLA

“milch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milch. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “milch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milch.

Source: milch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.