mitis

English

Etymology

Perhaps from Latin mitis (“mild”).

Noun

mitis (uncountable)

1. (attributive) A process for producing malleable iron castings by melting wrought iron, to which from 0.05 to 0.1 per cent of aluminum is added to lower the melting point, usually in a petroleum furnace, keeping the molten metal at the bubbling point until it becomes quiet, and then pouring the molten metal into a mold lined with a special mixture consisting essentially of molasses and ground burnt fire clay.
2. The malleable iron produced by this technique.

Anagrams

• simit

Latin

Etymology

Of unclear origin, with multiple competing theories.

The prevailing etymology connects Old Irish méth (“plump, fat”), Welsh mwyd (“act of soaking”), Welsh mwydion (“soft parts”) (from Proto-Celtic *mētos (“soft, plump”)); Old Irish mín (“soft; gentle, smooth; mild, tender, calm”) (Proto-Celtic *mīnis); and Old Irish moíth (“soft, tender”) (Proto-Celtic *moytos), together from Proto-Indo-European *meyh₁- (“mild, soft”). Other potential Indo-European cognates also point to a meaning like “pleasant”: Sanskrit मयस् (máyas, “pleasure, enjoyment, refreshment”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬵 (maiiah, “pleasure”), Proto-Slavic *mìlъ (“soft, mild, gentle, agreeable, pleasant, sweet, dear”), Lithuanian mielas (“nice, sweet, cute”), Latvian mīls (“dear, cherished, beloved”), Old Prussian mijls (“dear”). De Vaan suggests that the root *meyh₁- is actually *meh₁i-, being originally an extension of *meh₁- (“to measure”).

Alternatively, Oettinger compares Hittite 𒈠𒀀𒄿𒀭𒍣 (ma-a-i-an-zi, “to grow (up); to prosper”), reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *meyH- (“to ripen”); Kloekhorst rejects this on both semantic and formal grounds.

Plötz suggests it to be a zero-grade extension of the prohibitive particle *meh₁i, specifically labeling it a derivative from *mh₁i-tis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.tis/, [ˈmiːt̪ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.tis/, [ˈmiːt̪is]

Adjective

mītis (neuter mīte, comparative mītior, superlative mītissimus); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. mild, mellow, mature, ripe; sweet, juicy, succulent
2. (of the soil) light, fruitful, mellow.
3. (of a river) calm, gentle, placid

   Synonyms: placidus, lentus, lēnis

4. (of the weather) peaceful, pleasant, clement, calm

   Synonyms: misericors, tranquillus, placidus, quietus, clemens

   Antonyms: violēns, obstreperus, clāmātōrius, trux, ferōx, atrōx, silvāticus, ācer

5. (figuratively) soft, tolerable, meek, peaceful, gentle, mild
   • Jerome, Vulgate Mt 5, 4:

     Beātī mītēs: quoniam ipsī possidēbunt terram

     Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	mītis	mīte		mītēs	mītia
Genitive	mītis			mītium
Dative	mītī			mītibus
Accusative	mītem	mīte		mītēs mītīs	mītia
Ablative	mītī			mītibus
Vocative	mītis	mīte		mītēs	mītia

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “sweet, mellow, soft; peaceful”): immītis

Derived terms

• immītis
• mītificō
• mītigō

Related terms

• mītificus
• mītigābiliter
• mītiganter
• mītigātiō
• mītigātīvus
• mītigātōrius

Descendants

• Italian: mite, mezzo
• → English: mitis

References

• “mitis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mitis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mitis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Oettinger, Norbert (1979) Die Stammbildung des hethitischen Verbums (Erlanger Beiträge zur Sprach- und Kunstwissenschaft; 64), Nürnberg, page 471
• Schrijver, Peter C. H. (1991) The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Latin (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 2), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 244

Volapük

Noun

mitis

1. accusative plural of mit