From Middle English melen, mælen, from Old English mǣlan (“to speak, talk”), from mǣl (“speech, talk, conversation; dispute, contest, battle”) and māl (“suit, case, action, terms, agreement, covenanted pay”), both from Proto-Germanic *mahlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), alteration of *maþlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to meet, encounter”). Cognate with Scots mele (“to speak, converse, tell”), Danish mæle (“to speak, utter”), Icelandic mæla (“to speak, say”), Old High German mahalōn (“to charge, accuse, proscecute”), German vermählen (“to wed, marry”). More at blackmail.
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UK, Dialectal To say (something); to speak, to tell.
mell
noun
Etymology
From Middle English melen, mælen, from Old English mǣlan (“to speak, talk”), from mǣl (“speech, talk, conversation; dispute, contest, battle”) and māl (“suit, case, action, terms, agreement, covenanted pay”), both from Proto-Germanic *mahlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), alteration of *maþlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to meet, encounter”). Cognate with Scots mele (“to speak, converse, tell”), Danish mæle (“to speak, utter”), Icelandic mæla (“to speak, say”), Old High German mahalōn (“to charge, accuse, proscecute”), German vermählen (“to wed, marry”). More at blackmail.
Etymology From Middle English mellen, medlen, from Old French meller, mesler (“to mix, mingle”). Doublet of meddle.
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Dialectal, Obsolete To deal, concern oneself; to interfere or meddle.
For wher so we dwell / Deth wyll us qwell / And with us mell.c. 1495, John Skelton, Vppon a deedman's hed:
Here is a great deale of good matter, / loſt for lacke of telling, / Now ſicker I see, thou doeſt but clatter: / harme may come of melling.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iulye. Ægloga Septima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 29, recto:
2 more examples
And ſay a ſouldier (Dian) told thee this: / Men are to mell with, boyes are not to kis.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 250, column 1:
“By Saint Thomas of Kent,” said he, “an I buckle to my gear, I will teach thee to mell with thine own matters, maugre thine iron case there.”1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 57:
mell
noun
Etymology From Middle English mel, mell, melle, from Latin mell-, mel. Doublet of mel.
Her ſmyles were ſober, and her lookes were chearfull vnto all: / And ſuch as neither wanton ſeeme, noꝛ waward, mell, noꝛ gall.1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XX.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 86:
mell
noun
1
The last grain cut at harvest; kern
mell
noun
Etymology A variant form of maul.
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Dialectal A heavy hammer or beetle of metal or wood.