milt

noun, verb — 4 senses

milt

noun

/mɪlt/

Etymology From Middle English milte, from Old English milte, milt (“milt, spleen”), from Proto-West Germanic *miltijā, *meltā, from Proto-Germanic *meltǭ (“spleen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“to beat, grind, crush, weaken”). Cognate with German Milz, Dutch milt, Danish milt, Norwegian milt, Swedish mjälte. Outside Germanic, with Albanian mëlçi (“liver”) and Italian milza (“spleen”), which is a borrowing from Lombardic.

1

The spleen, especially of an animal bred for food.

  • we see that certaine apprehensions engender a blushing-red colour, others a palenesse; that some imagination doth only worke in the milt, another in the braine[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
  • Cancer, or the Crab, commandeth the Stomach, Limbs, Arteries, Milt, Liver and Gall.1668, ‘Godfridus’, The Knowledge of Things Unknown, London: G.P. for G. Sawbridge, page 19:
1 more example
  • Adam Kadmon had pneumonia. Friar Goat cured it by tying a bullock’s milt to the soles of the lad’s feet, and burying the milt afterwards. Adam Kadmon immediately contracted the thrush.1983, Robert Nye, The Facts of Life:
2

The semen of a male fish.

3

The engorged testis containing a filled reservoir of mature spermatozoa in a male fish.

Synonyms
spleen, lien, soft roe, white roe
Derived terms
milter, milt-grown, milting, milt-like, milt-pain, milt-sick, milt-sickness, miltwaste, milt-wort, milty
Related terms
miltsiekte, miltz

milt

verb

Etymology From Middle English milte, from Old English milte, milt (“milt, spleen”), from Proto-West Germanic *miltijā, *meltā, from Proto-Germanic *meltǭ (“spleen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“to beat, grind, crush, weaken”). Cognate with German Milz, Dutch milt, Danish milt, Norwegian milt, Swedish mjälte. Outside Germanic, with Albanian mëlçi (“liver”) and Italian milza (“spleen”), which is a borrowing from Lombardic.

1

To impregnate (the roe of a fish) with milt.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.