From names to words

maudlin

Mary Magdalene — 'Mary of Magdala', a lakeside town whose name means 'tower' — was painted weeping in repentance, so her English name, pronounced 'Maudlin', came to mean tearful and over-sentimental; Spanish still 'weeps like a Magdalene', and French named a little cake after her that Proust made immortal.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Old French to French, French

From French to Japanese

From Late Latin to Spanish

0 CEAramaic

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.