Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of mildew

mildew(n.)

"minute parasitic fungus that appears on plants or decaying organic matter," mid-14c., a transferred sense of a word that meant originally "nectar, honeydew" (the sugar-rich sticky stuff secreted by aphids feeding on plant sap); this is from mid-13c. as mildeu, from Old English meledeaw, from a Proto-Germanic compound of *melith "honey" (from PIE root *melit- "honey") + *dawwaz "dew" (see dew). Similar formation in Old Saxon milidou, Dutch meeldauw, Old High German miltou, German Meltau "mildew." The first element in many continental Germanic languages has been assimilated to forms of meal (n.2) "ground grain."

As a kind of morbid fungus or blight, it presumably is so called from its being sticky and growing on plants. As a verb, "to taint with mildew," from 1550s. Related: Mildewed; mildewy.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to mildew

dew(n.)

"water vapor deposited from the atmosphere by condensation, especially during the night," Middle English deaw, deu, from Old English deaw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz (source also of Old Saxon dau, Old Frisian daw, Middle Dutch dau, Old High German tau, German Tau, Old Norse dögg "dew"), perhaps from PIE root *dheu- "to flow" (source also of Sanskrit dhavate "flows, runs").

Used figuratively of something refreshing (late Old English), or suggestive of morning and youthful freshness (1530s). As a verb, "to wet with or as with dew," Old English deawian.

The formation of dew is explained by the loss of heat by bodies on the earth's surface through radiation at night, by which means they and the air immediately about them are cooled below the dew-point ....Dew is thus deposited chiefly on bodies which are good radiators and poor conductors of heat, like grass; hence also it appears chiefly on calm and clear nights--that is, when the conditions are most favorable for radiation. It never appears on nights both cloudy and windy. In winter dew becomes hoar frost. [Century Dictionary]

meal(n.2)

"the edible part of ground grain;" Middle English mēle, from Old English melu, from Proto-Germanic *melwan "grind" (source also of Old Frisian mele "meal," Old Saxon melo, Middle Dutch mele, Dutch meel, Old High German melo, German Mehl, Old Norse mjöl "meal;" literally "what is ground;" Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic malan, German mahlen "to grind"), from PIE root *mele- "to crush, grind." The verb form is not found in Old English. Forms with an -a- begin in late Middle English. "Now commonly understood to exclude the product of wheat (this being called FLOUR)" [OED].

*melit-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "honey."

It might form all or part of: caramel; marmalade; Melissa; mellifluous; mildew; molasses; mousse.

It might also be the source of: Greek meli, Latin mel "honey; sweetness;" Albanian mjal' "honey;" Old Irish mil "honey," Irish milis "sweet;" Old English mildeaw "nectar," milisc "honeyed, sweet;" Old High German milsken "to sweeten;" Gothic miliþ "honey."