Etymograph

English

mollify

Mollify comes from Latin mollis ‘soft’, and goes back to 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. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmollificō2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mollifien2‘to soften’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1599mollify2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mollis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English mollify
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe: “Hovv impetrable hee vvas in mollyfying the adamantineſt tiranny…”.

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, English mollify‘soft’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmollificōWiktionary, English mollify
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mollifienWiktionary, English mollify‘to soften’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1599mollifyWiktionary, English mollify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe: “Hovv impetrable hee vvas in mollyfying the adamantineſt tiranny…”

Equivalent to mollis + -ify

Linked words

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

email, melt, enamel, molten, milt, schmaltz, molt, 17 more

through Latin mollis ‘soft’

mojo, mojito, mollusc, emollient, 14 more

Today it means

verb To ease a burden, particularly to ease a worry; make less painful; to comfort.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mollify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mollis. 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- / mollify

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