Etymograph

English

moil

Moil comes from Middle English mollen ‘to soften by wetting’, from Old French moillier ‘to wet (make wet)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- ‘to soften, melt’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-1‘to soften, melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ml̥dus1‘soft, weak’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moldus1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmollis2‘soft’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*molliāre2‘soak’reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400moillier3‘to wet (make wet)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mollen3‘to soften by wetting’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1625moil3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mollis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French moillier
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English moil
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1625, Francis Bacon: “Moil not too much underground, for the hope of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-Wiktionary, Latin mollis‘to soften, melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ml̥dusWiktionary, Latin mollis‘soft, weak’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moldusWiktionary, Latin mollisreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmollisWiktionary, Old French moillier‘soft’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*molliāreWiktionary, Old French moillier‘soak’reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400moillierWiktionary, English moil‘to wet (make wet)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mollenWiktionary, English moil‘to soften by wetting’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1625moilWiktionary, English moil. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1625, Francis Bacon: “Moil not too much underground, for the hope of…”

The story

From Middle English mollen (‘to soften by wetting’), borrowed from Old French moillier with the same meaning, from Vulgar Latin *molliō, *molliare, from mollis (‘soft’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- ‘to soften, melt’

email, melt, enamel, molten, milt, schmaltz, molt, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *moldus

mollusc, emollient, mollify, 12 more

through Latin mollis ‘soft’

moll, mojito, 15 more

through Vulgar Latin *molliāre ‘soak’

mojo, 2 more

Another origin of moil

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-‘to grind, crush’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*molh₂éh₂uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*molāuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmola‘millstone’uncertain
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400moleuncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmeule‘grindstone’uncertain
  7. Englishtodaymoil

Of unclear origin; possibly from French meule or Hebrew מוהל (mohel, “ritual circumciser”), referring to the foreskin-like shape of the unwanted rim.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Today it means

verb To toil, to work hard.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “moil”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin mollis, Old French moillier. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- / moil

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