LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

malleus

malleus m (genitive malleī)
Classical[ˈmal.le.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈmal.le.us]

Meaning

  1. masculinehammer, mallet
    […] haud aliter quam cum spectante iuvenca lactentis vituli dextra libratus ab aure[…] just as when the young suckling calf spies by its right ear the danger poised to crash its resounding hammer blow.8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses 2.623–625
    sinistram manum misit ad clavum et dexteram ad fabrorum malleos […]She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer […]c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Iudicum.5.26
  2. masculinea disease of animals
    Quod si febris interna fuerit, non facile animal dormiet, et cotidie deterior fiet, interdum furunculos in dorso vel in lateribus habebit: scias eum a morbo, de quo superius disputatum est, maleo teneri.c. 260 CE, Quintus Gargilius Martialis, P. Vegeti Renati Digestorum artis mulomedicinae 1.31
  3. New Latinmasculinethe malleus, a small bone in the middle ear
    Chorda tympani—four auditory ossicles, 267—malleus—incus—subrotund oval ossicle—stapes […]1794, Gulielmo Rowley, Schola Medicinæ Universalis Nova, pars prior, page ix Chorda tympani—Oſſicula quatuor auditus, 267—Malleus—Incus—Oſſiculum ſubrotundum ovale—Stapes[…]

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemalleusmalleī
genitivemalleīmalleōrum
dativemalleōmalleīs
accusativemalleummalleōs
ablativemalleōmalleīs
vocativemalleemalleī

mallĕus, i, m.,
I. a hammer, mallet, maul.
I. Lit.: (navis) excussa malleo, Plaut. Men. 2, 3, 52: malleorum rostra, Plin. 34, 14, 41, § 144: stuparius, a swingle-staff, id. 19, 1, 3, § 17.—Of the maul or axe for felling animals to be sacrificed: tempora discussit claro cava malleus ictu, Ov. M. 2, 624: elato alte malleo, cultrarium mactavit, Suet. Calig. 32.—Prov.: malleum sapientiorem vidi excusso manubrio, the hammer wiser than the handle, Plaut. Ep. 3, 4, 87.—
II. Transf., a disease among animals: sunt species mallei septem, Veg. Vet. 1, 2, 1; 1, 10, 1.

Origins

Disputed. * Schrijver proposes that the term derives from the affixation of -eus to an older form *malalo-, thereby creating *malaleos, which syncopated into malleus. According to this theory, the form *malalo- would derive from *mola-lo-, itself from Proto-Indo-European *molH-lo-. The term would be connected to the root *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”), whence also molō (“to grind”) Compare similar semantic development from the same Proto-Indo-European root in Old Church Slavonic млатъ (mlatŭ, “hammer”), beside the verb млѣти (mlěti, “grind”). * Alternatively, the linguist Blanca María Prósper proposes that the term may instead derive from earlier *mallo-, itself from older *mar(a)lo-, from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥h₂-(e)lo-, ultimately from the root *merh₂-, whence also Proto-Celtic *marnati.

Elsewhere
  • Catalanmall
  • Frenchmailfrom Old French mail
  • Englishmaulfrom Old French mail
  • Italianmaglio
  • Portuguesemalho
  • Romanianmai
  • Spanishmajo
  • Spanishmayo
  • Spanishmallo
  • Englishmalleus
Sardinian
  • Logudoresemazu
  • Logudoresemàggiu
  • Logudoresemàgiu
  • Logudoresemaxu
  • Campidanesemallu
  • Campidanesemàgliu

In English words that came into English from malleus

  • maulmalleus
  • malleusmalleus
  • malleablemalleābilis
  • malleolusmalleolus
  • malleatemalleātus
  • malleinmalleus

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesMalleusMalleus dim. MALLEOLUS, 1. A hammer, a mallet, was used much for the same purposes in ancient as in modern times. In Greek the general term is σφῦρα; …

Quick answers

What does malleus mean in Latin?
malleus, a noun, means “hammer, mallet; a disease of animals; the malleus, a small bone in the middle ear”.
What is the genitive of malleus?
The genitive singular is malleī. malleus is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce malleus?
In classical Latin, [ˈmal.le.ʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmal.le.us].
Which English words come from malleus?
English words that go back to Latin malleus include maul, malleus, mallein, malleolus, malleate and malleable.