μαλθακός

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Ancient Greek

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Formation like μαλακός (malakós, soft, tender); the two synonymous adjectives may have influenced each other. Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *mel- (soft), like Proto-Germanic *malskaz (soft) and Sanskrit मर्धति (mardhati, to abandon, neglect). However, Beekes considers the word Pre-Greek, because *ml̥dʰ- would yield *βλαθ- (*blath-). Moreover, this word cannot be cognate with μαλακός (malakós), as the latter must go back to *mlh₂-ek and there is no trace of the h₂- in the former.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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μᾰλθᾰκός (malthakósm (feminine μᾰλθᾰκή, neuter μᾰλθᾰκόν); first/second declension

  1. soft, tender, mellow
  2. (figuratively) weak, feeble
  3. gentle, mild, mellow

Inflection

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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