mitis

English

Etymology

Perhaps from Latin mitis (“mild”).

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA or enPR then please add some!

Noun

mitis (uncountable)

(attributive) A process for producing malleable iron castings by melting wrought iron, to which from 0.05 to 0.1 per cent of aluminum is added to lower the melting point, usually in a petroleum furnace, keeping the molten metal at the bubbling point until it becomes quiet, and then pouring the molten metal into a mold lined with a special mixture consisting essentially of molasses and ground burnt fire clay.
The malleable iron produced by this technique.

Anagrams

simit

Latin

Etymology

Of unclear origin, with multiple competing theories.

The prevailing etymology connects Old Irish méth (“plump, fat”), Welsh mwyd (“act of soaking”), Welsh mwydion (“soft parts”) (from Proto-Celtic *mētos (“soft, plump”)); Old Irish mín (“soft; gentle, smooth; mild, tender, calm”) (Proto-Celtic *mīnis); and Old Irish moíth (“soft, tender”) (Proto-Celtic *moytos), together from Proto-Indo-European *meyh₁- (“mild, soft”). Other potential Indo-European cognates also point to a meaning like “pleasant”: Sanskrit मयस् (máyas, “pleasure, enjoyment, refreshment”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬵 (maiiah, “pleasure”), Proto-Slavic *mìlъ (“soft, mild, gentle, agreeable, pleasant, sweet, dear”), Lithuanian mielas (“nice, sweet, cute”), Latvian mīls (“dear, cherished, beloved”), Old Prussian mijls (“dear”).^[1]^[2] De Vaan suggests that the root *meyh₁- is actually *meh₁i-, being originally an extension of *meh₁- (“to measure”).^[3]

Alternatively, Oettinger compares Hittite 𒈠𒀀𒄿𒀭𒍣 (ma-a-i-an-zi, “to grow (up); to prosper”), reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *meyH- (“to ripen”); Kloekhorst rejects this on both semantic and formal grounds.^[4]

Plötz suggests it to be a zero-grade extension of the prohibitive particle *meh₁i, specifically labeling it a derivative from *mh₁i-tis.^[5]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.tis/, [ˈmiːt̪ɪs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.tis/, [ˈmiːt̪is]

Adjective

mītis (neuter mīte, comparative mītior, superlative mītissimus); third-declension two-termination adjective

mild, mellow, mature, ripe; sweet, juicy, succulent
(of the soil) light, fruitful, mellow.
(of a river) calm, gentle, placid
Synonyms: placidus, lentus, lēnis
(of the weather) peaceful, pleasant, clement, calm
Synonyms: misericors, tranquillus, placidus, quietus, clemens

Antonyms: violēns, obstreperus, clāmātōrius, trux, ferōx, atrōx, silvāticus, ācer
(figuratively) soft, tolerable, meek, peaceful, gentle, mild
- Jerome, Vulgate Mt 5, 4:
  Beātī mītēs: quoniam ipsī possidēbunt terram
  Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	masc./fem.	neuter	masc./fem.	neuter
	singular		plural
nominative	mītis	mīte	mītēs	mītia
genitive	mītis		mītium
dative	mītī		mītibus
accusative	mītem	mīte	mītēs mītīs	mītia
ablative	mītī		mītibus
vocative	mītis	mīte	mītēs	mītia

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “sweet, mellow, soft; peaceful”): immītis

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Italian: mite, mezzo
→ English: mitis

References

“mitis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“mitis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
mitis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Oettinger, Norbert (1979) Die Stammbildung des hethitischen Verbums (Erlanger Beiträge zur Sprach- und Kunstwissenschaft; 64), Nürnberg, page 471
Schrijver, Peter C. H. (1991) The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Latin (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 2), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 244

^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “mēto-, *mēti-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 270
^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “moyto-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 279
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “mītis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 383
^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008) “mai-ⁱ / mi-”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 540–541
^ Plötz, O. (2017). The (PIE?) prohibitive particle *mē: soft approaches. Vienna: 3rd Indo-European colloquium. Pg 3.

Volapük

Noun

mitis

accusative plural of mit

[1] Matasović, Ranko (2009) “mēto-, *mēti-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 270

[2] Matasović, Ranko (2009) “moyto-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 279

[3] De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “mītis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 383

[4] Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008) “mai-ⁱ / mi-”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 540–541

[5] Plötz, O. (2017). The (PIE?) prohibitive particle *mē: soft approaches. Vienna: 3rd Indo-European colloquium. Pg 3.

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