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