moly

English

Etymology 1

From Latin mōly, from Ancient Greek μῶλυ (môlu) (probably a loanword).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊli/
• Rhymes: -əʊli

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

moly (countable and uncountable, plural molies)

1. (Greek mythology) A magic herb or plant used by Odysseus to overcome Circe.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 4, member 1, subsection iii:

     It excels Homers moly, cures this, falling sickness, and almost all other infirmities.

   • 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, page 114:

     Or, propt on beds of amaranth and moly, / How sweet (while warm airs lull us, blowing lowly,)

   • 1980, Homer, translated by Walter Shrewing, The Odyssey, Oxford, published 1998, page 120:

     So spoke the Radiant One; then gave me the magic herb, pulling it from the ground and showing me in what form it grew; its root was black, its flower milk-white. Its name among the gods is moly.

   • 2018, Madeline Miller, Circe, Bloomsbury 2019, p. 113:

     I would need all the secret herbs of Dicte . I would need as well the rest of my moly stores.

2. Any plant associated with the mythological moly, especially the European allium, Allium moly.

Etymology 2

Clipping of molybdenum.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒli/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒli
• Homophone: molly

Noun

moly (uncountable)

1. (informal) Molybdenum.
   • 1990, John Wegg, General Dynamics Aircraft and Their Predecessors, page 55:

     The fuselage and tail unit were constructed of welded chrome-moly steel tubing, fabric covered, with two seats in one elongated open 'bathtub' cockpit.

2. (slang) Molybdenum grease.

Derived terms

• moly cow

Anagrams

• mylo-

French

Noun

moly m (plural molys)

1. moly (plant)

Further reading

• “moly”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from a Slavic language. Compare Czech mol and Slovak moľ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: moly
• Rhymes: -oj

Noun

moly (plural molyok)

1. moth (a usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae)

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• lepke
• pillangó
• Appendix:Hungarian words with ly

References

Further reading

• moly in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μῶλυ (môlu), which was most likely a loanword.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmoː.ly/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.li/,

Noun

mōly n (genitive mōlyos); third declension

1. Moly, a magic herb used by Odysseus to ward him from the spells of Circe.
2. A plant comparable with the mythological moly, especially the European allium, Allium moly.

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant, neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Descendants

• → English: moly

References

• “moly”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “moly”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “moly”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• moly in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 990.

Slovincian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *malъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔlɪ/
• Syllabification: mo‧ly

Adjective

moly (comparative mjênszy, superlative nomjênszy)

1. little, small (not big)

   Antonym: wjelgjy

Further reading

• Lorentz, Friedrich (1908) “mǻu̯lï”, in Slovinzisches Wörterbuch‎ (in German), volume 1, Saint Petersburg: ОРЯС ИАН, page 620