SC - Mulled Cider
david friedman
ddfr at best.com
Wed Sep 13 14:53:50 PDT 2000
Elysant and Adamantius have been discussing the origin of the word mull.
>Adamantius wrote:
>
>><snip> However, my Webster's New World Dictionary draws a
>>distinction between the mull as in pulverize, and mull as in "soft",
>>associated with, for example, the French oeufs mollet or soft-boiled
>>eggs, and, according to them, with mulled wine and cider. Maybe the
> >gentle heat?
The Oxford English Dictionnary says that "mull" in that sense is "of
obscure origin", offering as "unsupported conjectures" the connection
with the mulled = ground spices and the connection with mull = to
make soft or mild. The earliest use of the word with that meaning is
from a play (I think) from 1618, and reads: "Do not fire the cellar,
for there's excellent wine in't, Captain, and though the weather be
cold, I do not love it mull'd."
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
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