h₂melh₂-
“to crush, to grind (with a hammer)”hammer/crush
PIE root meaning to crush or grind with a hammer. Source of English "hammer," "mallet," and words for pounding.
Discussion
*h₂melh₂- is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to crush" or "to grind," particularly with a hammer or heavy implement.
The root gives Latin malleus "hammer" (whence English mallet, malleable, maul) and molere "to grind" (whence English mill, molar, mould). Greek mýlē "mill, millstone" reflects the grinding sense. Old English melu "meal, ground grain" (modern English meal in the sense of ground grain) and Old Norse mjǫllnir (Thor's hammer Mjölnir) both derive from this root.
In Slavic, Russian molot "hammer" and Old Church Slavonic mlěti "to grind" continue both semantic branches. Sanskrit mr̥ṇāti "crushes" shows the root with the expected Indo-Iranian rhotacism.
The dual semantics—hammering and grinding—reflect two aspects of the same basic action: reducing material through repeated blows. The laryngeals *h₂ are evidenced by the a-coloring in Latin malleus and the vowel patterns across branches.
Modern descendants include English hammer (possibly, though this derivation is disputed), mill, mallet, maul, meal, molar, and the mythological Mjölnir.
Notes
Source of Latin "malleus" (hammer), English "maul", "mallet".