Mells

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaically, to mix things together or to interfere in another's affairs ; a heavy wooden or metal mallet used for striking, pounding or driving objects
2. Old Scots usage meaning to blend or meddle with something ; a large hammer with a broad head, used to beat or drive other things
3. To combine or interfere in a dated, regional sense ; a stout mallet with a heavy head employed for pounding and striking

Etymology: "Mells" is the third-person singular of "mell", a verb that has been used in English for centuries to mean "to mix" or "to meddle". The most surprising thing about "mell" is that it is really three words that happen to share a spelling. One goes back to Old English "mǣlan", meaning "to speak" or "to talk", from a Germanic root meaning "meeting" or "assembly", the same root that gives German "vermählen", "to wed". Speech and marriage come from the same idea of coming together. A second strand came into Middle English from Old French "meller" or "mesler", meaning "to mix or mingle". It is a doublet of "meddle", so the two words are close cousins that took different paths into English. A third "mell" came from Latin "mel", "honey", and is a doublet of the word "mel" itself. The noun sense, a heavy mallet for pounding, is a variant of "maul", so "mells" in that sense is simply the plural of a hammer-like tool.

Synonyms: mix, blend, mingle, combine, meddle

Antonyms: separate, divide