Etymology
1. O.E.
meoluc (W.Saxon),
milc (Anglian), both related to
melcan "to milk." The noun is from P.Gmc.
*meluk- (cf. O.N.
mjolk, Du.
melk, Ger.
Milch, Goth.
miluks); the verb is from P.Gmc.
*melkanan (cf. O.N.
mjolka, Du., Ger.
melken); both from PIE base
*melg- "wiping, stroking," in ref. to the hand motion in milking an animal (cf. Gk.
amelgein, L.
mulgere, O.C.S.
mlesti, Lith.
melzu "to milk," O.Ir.
melg "milk," Skt.
marjati "wipes off"). O.C.S. noun
meleko (Rus.
moloko, Czech
mleko) is considered to be adopted from Germanic. Figurative verbal sense of "exploit for profit" is first found 1526.
Milkmaid first attested 1552;
milkman "one who sells milk" is recorded from 1589.
Milk chocolate is first recorded 1723;
milk shake is first recorded 1889, for a variety of creations, but the modern version is only from the 1930s.
Milk tooth is attested from 1727. To
cry over spilt milk is first attested 1836 in writing of Canadian humorist Thomas C. Haliburton.
Milk and honey is from the O.T. phrase describing the richness of the Promised Land.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-der.
4. Proto-Germanic *melkaną
5. Proto-West Germanic *melkan
6. Old English melcan
7. Middle English milken
8. English milk
9. From Middle English milken, from Old English melcan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-, the same root as the noun. Compare Dutch and German melken, Danish malke, Norwegian mjølke, also Latin mulgeō (“to milk”), Ancient Greek ἀμέλγω (amélgō, “to milk”), Albanian mjel (“to milk”), Russian молоко́ (molokó), Lithuanian mélžti, Tocharian A mālk-. See: Old English '
melcan', Proto-Germanic '
*melkaną', German, old spelling '
melken', Danish '
malke', Latin '
mulgeō', Albanian '
mjel'.
Verbs referencing "milk"
German, old spelling
melken, Icelandic
mjólka, German, Pennsylvania
melke, Norwegian
mjølke, Galician
muxir, Danish
malke, Latin
mulgeo, English
emulge, Wymysorys
mȧlkja.