milkenadj.

Brit.

/ˈmɪlk(ə)n/, U.S.

/ˈmɪlk(ə)n/

Forms: Old English meolcen, Old English mylcen, Middle English mylkene, Middle English–1500s mylken, 1500s– milken.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: milk n.¹, -en suffix⁴.

Etymology: < milk n.¹ + -en suffix⁴.

Now archaic and poetic.

1. Consisting of milk; having a large amount of milk. Of a vein: †lacteal (obsolete). Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > [adjective] > relating to milk

milkeneOE

milkyc1449

lactary1646

lacteal1753

lactic1789

milchig1904

eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. 14 (table of contents) Læcedomas & drencas wið genumenum mete & gif eala sie awerd oþþe meolcen mete þry cræftas.

eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. lxvii. 142 Gif mete sy awyrd & ungehwæde mylcen oððe fild oþþe bryþen, halga þa wyrte do on & under þæt fæt.

a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 36 Lacteus, mylkene.

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 18^v (MED) Atuix it [sc. the uterus] & þe pappez bene co[n]tinued vene lactalez, i. mylken veynez & menstrualez.

1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Eiv/2 Mylken, lacteus.

1607 R. C. tr. H. Estienne World of Wonders 18 The hony and milken riuers.

a1618 W. Raleigh Pilgrimage 16 There will I..drink mine euerlasting fill Vpon euery milken hill.

1680 W. Temple Ess. Cure of Gout in Miscellanea 229 A constant course of the Milken-dyet.

1882 J. Walker Descr. Jaunt to Auld Reekie 16 Here milken curds and jugs o' lushy cream.

1976 G. Kinnell in New Yorker 22 Mar. 36/2 The sheer blue milken dreaminess shuddering and squirting From the fourteen teats.

†2. Of the colour of milk, milk-white. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > [adjective] > pure white > as milk

milk-whiteOE

as white as milkOE

milkisha1398

milkya1398

milkc1450

milky-white1581

milkena1586

lacteal1633

lacteous1646

lactaceous1656

lactean1659

lactescent1758

milchy1890

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iv. sig. Mm5^v A prety palenes (which did leaue milken lines, vpon her rosie cheekes).

1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 16) 297 She [sc. Truth] reacheth forth to us her milken hand.

†3. figurative. Soft, mild, gentle. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > calmness > meekness or mildness > [adjective]

stillc825

tamec888

mildeOE

lithea1000

daftc1000

meekc1325

lambishc1374

meeklyc1375

benign1377

temperatec1380

quieta1382

gall-lessa1398

mansuetea1425

meeta1425

unwrathful1542

rageless1578

lamb-like?1592

mildya1603

milky1602

pigeon-livered1604

placid1614

spleenless?1615

passive1616

unprovokable1646

milken1648

uncaptious1661

stomachless1727

unindignant1789

pianoa1817

ireless1829

unquarrelsome1830

quiet-goinga1835

uncholeric1834

unoffendable1839

baby-milda1845

quiet-tempered1846

turtlish1855

pathic1857

the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > not harsh or gentle

meekc1230

nesha1250

tender1340

softa1398

sober1455

gentle1508

silken1601

milken1648

rose water1837

paddy1962

1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) v. 15 A quiet and milken sea.

1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Num. xxxi. 3) 64 Lactantius being (according to his name,) a mild and milken man.

Compounds

† milken race n. Obsolete = milken way n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > constellation > galaxy > [noun] > Milky Way

wayeOE

Watling Streetc1384

galaxya1398

milky circlea1398

Milky Wayc1450

milk way1555

milk-white way1555

white circle1563

milken waya1586

milken race1596

milk circle1601

Via Lactea1615

lacteous circle1646

Milky Way1854

Walsingham Wayc1878

1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. F2^v O you once matchlesse monarches of the seas, But now advanced to an higher place..In that faire palace neere the milken race.

† milken way n. Obsolete the Milky Way.

ΘΚΠ