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Origin and history of molest

molest(v.)

late 14c., molesten, "to cause trouble, grief, or vexation, disturb, harass," from Old French molester "to torment, trouble, bother" (12c.) and directly from Latin molestare "to disturb, trouble, annoy," from molestus "troublesome, annoying, unmanageable," which is perhaps related to moles "mass" (see mole (n.3)) on notion of either "burden" or "barrier." Meaning "sexually assault" is attested by 1950. Related: Molested; molesting.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to molest

mole(n.3)

"massive structure used as a breakwater," 1540s, from French môle "breakwater" (16c.), ultimately from Latin moles "mass, massive structure, barrier," perhaps from PIE root *mō- "to exert oneself" (source also of Greek molos "effort," molis "hardly, scarcely;" German mühen "to tire," müde "weary, tired;" Russian majat' "to fatigue, exhaust," maja "hard work").

molestation(n.)

c. 1400, molestacioun, "action of annoying or vexing," from Old French molestacion "vexation, harassing," and directly from Medieval Latin molestationem (nominative molestatio), noun of action from past participle stem of molestare (see molest). In Scottish law it meant "the harassing of a person in his possession or occupation of lands;" in English common law it came to mean "injury inflicted upon another."

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Trends of molest

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

harry
Old English hergian "make war, lay waste, ravage, plunder," the word used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for what the Vikings did to England, from Proto-Germanic *harjon (source also of Old Frisian urheria "lay waste, ravage, plunder," Old Norse herja "to make a raid, to plunder,"
chivvy
"harass," 1918, from alternative form of chevy (1830) "to chase," from a noun chevy (1824, also used as a hunting cry, c. 1785), from chevy chase "a running pursuit," probably from the "Ballad of Chevy Chase," a popular song from 15c. describing a hunting party on the borderland
beset
Old English besettan "to put, place; own, keep; occupy, settle; cover, surround with, besiege," from Proto-Germanic *bisatjan (source also of Old Saxon bisettjan, Dutch bezetten, Old High German bisezzan, German besetzen, Gothic bisatjan); see be- + set (v.). The figurative sense
annoy
And compare Spanish enojo "offense, injury, anger;" enojar "to molest, trouble, vex."...
gravel
"stone in small, irregular fragments," early 13c., from Old French gravele "sand, gravel; sea-shore; sandy bed of a river," diminutive of grave "sand, seashore" (Modern French grève), possibly from Celtic *graw- (compare Welsh gro "coarse gravel," Breton grouan, Cornish grow "gra
nettle
"herbaceous plant of the genus Urtica, armed with stinging hairs" (also used of other plants of the genus and of nettle-like plants, generally with a qualifying word), Middle English netle, from Old English netele, from Proto-Germanic *natilon (source also of Old Saxon netila, Mi
rile
"excite, disturb, vex, annoy," 1825, American English spelling alteration to reflect a dialectal pronunciation of roil (q.v.) in a figurative sense. Compare heist from hoist and in the same era spile for spoil (v.). Bartlett writes that in both England and America roil "is now co
assault
late 14c., earlier asaut (c. 1200), "physical attack (on a person), sudden violent onslaught (on a place)," from Old French asaut, assaut "an attack, an assault, attacking forces" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *adsaltus "attack, assault," from ad "to" (see ad-) + Latin saltus "a leap
crucify
mid-14c., "to put to death by nailing or otherwise affixing to a cross," from Old French crucifer crucefiier (12c., Modern French crucifier), from Vulgar Latin *crucificare, from Late Latin crucifigere "to fasten to a cross," from cruci, dative of Latin crux "cross" (see crux) +
needle
Old English nædl "small, pointed instrument for carrying a thread through woven fabric, leather, etc.," from Proto-Germanic *næthlo (source also of Old Saxon nathla, Old Norse nal, Old Frisian nedle, Old High German nadala, German Nadel, Gothic neþla "needle"), literally "a tool

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