An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/mahlen

by Friedrich Kluge

mahlen, verb, ‘to grind,’ from the equivalent Middle High German maln, Old High German malan; in the latter form the common Teutonic word for ‘to grind’ (but wanting in English even in Anglo-Saxon); compare Old Saxon malan, Dutch malen, Old Icelandic mala, Gothic malan, ‘to grind.’ The root mal (mol, ml), ‘to grind,’ is common to the West Aryan languages, and this fact indicates the very early existence of grinding; compare Latin molo, Greek μύλλω (to which μύλη, μύλος, μυλῖται are allied), Old Slovenian melją mlĕti), Lithuanian máḷù (málti), Old Irish melim, ‘I grind.’ This community of terms in the West Aryan languages does not necessarily point to a primitively period when the tribes speaking the languages mentioned formed one body. It is more probable that the use of mills was learnt by one tribe from another. The influence of a foreign civilisation (compare Hanf) is also quite conceivable. Compare malmen, Malter, Maulwurf, Mehl, Mühle, and Müller.