English
mulct
Mulct comes from Middle French mulcter ‘to fine, punish’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *moltā ‘a monetary penalty’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moltā1‘a monetary penalty’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmulta2as mulcta‘penalty, fine’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mulcter2‘to fine, punish’
- Englishearliest quotation 1819mulct2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin multa
- 2 Wiktionary, English mulct
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan: “juries cast up what a wife is worth, /…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moltāWiktionary, Latin multa‘a monetary penalty’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultaWiktionary, English mulctas mulcta‘penalty, fine’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mulcterWiktionary, English mulct‘to fine, punish’
- Englishearliest quotation 1819mulctWiktionary, English mulct. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan: “juries cast up what a wife is worth, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘good, big’
mole, amelia, dulcimer, 27 more
through Proto-Italic *moltos ‘many’
Today it means
noun A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “mulct”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin multa. 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-Italic *moltā / mulct