lemÌc. Lemizh grammar and dictionary

Lemizh / English dictionary


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melàs.

to make a power unit, a power of 2.813 milliwatts (see appendix, Units of measurement)

Etymology

NLem meliss‑a, academic loan of
Koi μέλισσ‑α ‘bee’
SHell *melilíkhi‑ā
PIE *melidlíg̑ʰ‑i‑eh₂, nominalisation of
  PIE *mélid‑lei̯g̑ʰ‑, compound of
  PIE *mélid ‘honey’
 —and—
  PIE *lei̯g̑ʰ‑ ‘lick’

An old unit of power was named after the more impressive horse (Koi ἵππος), but (1) the symbol x was needed for the length unit, (2) 2.8 milliwatts are closer to a bee’s than to a horse’s power output, and (3) one of the physicists who devised the modern unit system had a wife called Μέλισσα.

doublet of làj.

Cognates

Eng mil‑dew, Lat mel ‘honey’; Eng lick