Etymograph

English

molinet

Molinet comes from French moulinet ‘small mill’, from Proto-Italic *melō ‘to grind’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-1‘to grind, crush’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mélh₂ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*melō1‘to grind’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmolō2‘to grind or mill’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmolīnum2
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400molin2‘mill’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600moulin2‘mill’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentmoulin3‘mill’
  9. Frenchc. 1600–presentmoulinet3‘small mill’
  10. Englishtodaymolinet3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin molo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French moulin
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English molinet

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-Wiktionary, Latin molo‘to grind, crush’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mélh₂tiWiktionary, Latin moloreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*melōWiktionary, Latin molo‘to grind’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmolōWiktionary, French moulin‘to grind or mill’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmolīnumWiktionary, French moulin
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400molinWiktionary, French moulin‘mill’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600moulinWiktionary, French moulin‘mill’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentmoulinWiktionary, English molinet‘mill’
  9. Frenchc. 1600–presentmoulinetWiktionary, English molinet‘small mill’
  10. EnglishtodaymolinetWiktionary, English molinet

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ‘to grind, crush’

miller, meal, mild, mule, muller, mold, mould, mole, bonanza, mull, camo, amalgam, malleable, melatonin, millet, maelstrom, martel, molar, malm, amyl, 39 more

through Latin molō ‘to grind or mill’

mill, 8 more

through French moulin ‘mill’

moulin, 2 more

Today it means

noun A short rod that was used for stirring hot chocolate drinks before emulsifiers were available.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “molinet”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin molo, French moulin. 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 *melh₂- / molinet

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