Etymograph

English

mallow

Mallow comes from Middle English malwe, and goes back to Latin malva.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalva1
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150mealwe1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malwe1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611mallow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mallow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Gonzalo. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,—…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalvaWiktionary, English mallow
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150mealweWiktionary, English mallow
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malweWiktionary, English mallow
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611mallowWiktionary, English mallow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Gonzalo. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,—…”

Linked words

through Latin malva

mauve, 2 more

Today it means

noun Any of a group of flowering plants in several genera of the taxonomic family Malvaceae, especially of the genus Malva. Several species are edible by humans.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mallow”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin malva / mallow

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