mild

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme
  2. adjective humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or even cowed submissiveness
  3. adjective mild and pleasant

Etymology

From Middle English milde, from Old English milde (“mild”), from Proto-Germanic *mildijaz (“mild”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to beat, pound, grind”). Cognate with Scots mild, myld (“mild”), Saterland Frisian milde (“mild”), West Frisian myld (“mild”), Dutch mild (“mild”), Low German milde (“mild”), German mild (“mild”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål mild (“mild”), Icelandic mildur (“mild”), Latin mollis (“soft, gentle”), Lithuanian malonus (“pleasing, pleasant, kind”), Old Norse mildr.

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