Histoire; Archéologie : 

Étymologie : 

* Rivet & Smith, p 409 : 

- Ptolémée, II,2,10 : Malaios (= MALAEUS); variantes Maleos (= MALEUS);  Meleos (= MELEUS).

- Ravenna, 105₂₉ : MALACA.

"The correct form of the name is unsure. R&C reasonably conjecture that Ravenna's entry represents Malaia or Malaea, and this is supported by Maleam (ace.) in Adamnan's Life of St Columba (i, 22; i, 41; n, 22). The modern Gaelic name of Mull (from the British) is Muile. The name is probably to be associated with the numerous Mal- Mel-Mell- names which are widespread on the Continent and beyond. Pokorny 721 has a root *mel- ' hervorkommen, erscheinen, hochkommen; Erhohung, Wölbung', Dauzat TF 75 a pre-Celtic *mala 'mountain', with a variant *mel(l)- from Gaulish *mello- derived, and there are further representatives such as Breton mell, Irish mell "hill'; Rostaing ETP 202-205 cites Albanian mal and a Ligurian *mel- which has left several traces in Provence. In ancient names this element is found compounded or with suffix in Melocabos and Meliodounon ( = Melocabus, Meliodunum: Ptolemy n, n, 14) in Germania Magna, Melodunum > Melun (Seine-et-Marne, France), Mellosedum and Mellosecto in Gaul; Meletum > Meilly-sur-Rouvres (Côte-d'Or, France), Mellaria now Fuenteovejuna (Côrdoba, Spain). Ptolemy's variant Mel- (= Me/-) may not be unimportant he  re. For the suffix, compare perhaps British Arbeia and other names noted there. A sense 'hill (-island) ' seems appropriate, then; there is no reason why the name should not be British, whatever the ultimate origin of *mala *mel-. See also *MELETIUM.

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* A.D Mills (1991-2003 : "Malaios c. 150. Pre-Celtic island name".

Sources : 

* Eilert EKWALL : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. Clarendon Press. 1980.

* .L.F RIVET & Colin SMITH : The Place-names of Roman Britain. Batsford Ltd. London. 1979.

* A.D Mills : Oxford Dictionary of British place Names. Oxford University Press. 1991-2003.

Liens électroniques des sites Internet traitant de  Mull / Malaia : 

* lien communal officiel : 

* forum du site Marikavel : Academia Celtica

hast buan, ma mignonig vas vite, mon petit ami

go fast, my little friend