Milte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling for the spleen, the organ beside the stomach that filters blood and is sometimes called the milt
2. Old English and Middle English term for the spleen, an organ in the abdomen involved in filtering the blood
3. A historical word for the spleen, the abdominal organ once thought to be the seat of certain moods and humours

Etymology: "Milte" is the Middle English spelling of an Old English noun meaning "spleen," the abdominal organ. The Old English form, "milte," traces back to a Germanic root shared with modern German "Milz" and Dutch "milt," both still meaning spleen. Its exact ultimate origin is uncertain, so the safest statement is that it is a native Germanic word, not borrowed from Latin or French. The surprising part is what the organ stood for. Medieval writers, following ancient medical ideas that linked the spleen to emotion, used the word for the seat of feeling, and in Middle English "milte" and "milt" could mean compassion or mercy. The same word also gave us a sense for the reproductive fluid of male fish, which is the usual modern meaning of "milt."