Dictionary formmollis, molle
Translation
soft, tender; gentle, mild
Test yourself on mollis
Three quick questions. No account needed.
Know this word? Create a free account to track it.
Examples
.
The bed is soft.
.
He has a tender heart.
.
He answered in a gentle voice.
.
Soldiers are not soft.
.
Gentle words conquer anger.
Mollis, molle is a third declension adjective of two terminations: one form for masculine and feminine, molle for the neuter. Ablative singular molli, neuter plural mollia, genitive plural mollium. Its straight opposite is durus, and the pair turns up constantly in descriptions of ground, weather, wax, voices and characters.
The extended sense is where it bites. Applied to a person, mollis is not a compliment: it means soft in the sense of unmanly, self-indulgent, unfit to campaign, and Roman writers use it as an insult with a sexual edge. English mollify, emollient and mollusc all descend from it, as does mild by a longer route. Note molli, the ablative, is one letter from mollis and easy to misread.
Where this fits
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Meet this word in a story
Every course has graded stories written only with words you have been taught, plus grammar drills, a games arcade and printable worksheets. Chapters 1 and 2 are free.
Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.
Latin · Free printables
mollis: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "mollis" (soft, tender; gentle, mild): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekThis word is taught in chapter 8, lesson 8: mollis, furor, iudex and 7 more words.