▪ I. moly1
(ˈməʊlɪ)
[a. L. mōly, a. Gr. µῶλυ.]
1. Mythol. A fabulous herb having a white flower and a black root, endowed with magic properties, and said by Homer to have been given by Hermes to Odysseus as a charm against the sorceries of Circe.
The Homeric moly is by some modern writers identified with the mandrake, but Theophrastus and Dioscorides apply the name to some species of garlic (Allium).
| 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. Ep. Ded. a iv b, And what is else herbe Moly than the gift of stayednesse And temperance? 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 42 It shall preuayle as much against these abuses, as Homers Moly against Witchcraft. 1580 Lyly Euphues Wks. 1902 II. 19 But as y⊇ hearb Moly hath a floure as white as snow, & a roote as blacke as incke: so age hath a white head, showing pietie, but a black hart swelling w{supt} mischiefe. 1634 Milton Comus 636 And yet more med'cinal is it then that Moly That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 365 Black was the root, but milky white the flower, Moly the name, to mortals hard to find. 1884 A. Lang Custom & Myth 154 Homer's moly, whatever plant he meant by that name. |
| fig. 1593 Lodge Phillis, Compl. Elstred (1875) 68 He had Loues Moly growing on my pappes, To charme a hell of sorrow and mishappes. |
2. Applied to various plants that have been supposed to be identical with the moly of Homer. a. The liliaceous genus Allium, esp. the wild garlic, Allium Moly. Also with prefixed word, applied to various species of this genus, as civet moly, Dioscorides' moly, dwarf moly, Homer's moly, Indian, Montpellier moly, pine-apple moly, serpent's moly, yellow moly.
| 1629 Parkinson Paradisus 141 Moly. Wilde Garlicke. 1660 Sharrock Vegetables 105 The late Pine-apple Moly, the Civet Moly of Monspelier..are well preserved many yeares. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort., May (1679) 17 Flowers in Prime, or yet Lasting... Bugloss, Homers Moly, and the white of Dioscorides [etc.]. Ibid., Sept. 25 Flowers in Prime, or yet lasting... Moly, Monspeliens [etc.]. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece i. 7, I should have taken it for a Moly, but that it had no smell. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 55/2 Serpents Moly..the small green leaves twine and crawl, from whence it took its name. 1721 Mortimer Husb. (ed. 5) II. 231 Moly, or Wild Garlick, is of several Sorts or Kinds, as the Great Moly of Homer, the Indian Moly, the Moly of Hungary, Serpents Moly, the Yellow Moly, Spanish Purple Moly, Spanish Silver-capped Moly, Dioscorides's Moly, the Sweet Moly of Montpelier, &c. 1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis I. 422 Allium subhirsutum... Hairy Garlick or Dioscorides's Moly. Ibid. 423 Allium magicum... Homer's Garlick, or Moly. Ibid. 428 Allium Moly... Yellow Garlick, or Moly. 1856 J. H. Newman Callista (1890) 126 The stately lily, the royal carnation, the golden moly. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 4 Oct. 2/1 Moly, however, can be identified. It is a common bulb of Southern Europe,..covering the ground with sheets of brilliant yellow. |
† b. App. identified with Thrift, Armeria vulgaris. Obs. rare—1.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. l. 508 You may also reckon amongst the kindes of Moly, a sort of grasse growing alongst the sea coast..and..bearing flowers..tuft fashion, of a white purple, or skie colour. |
▪ II. moly2
(ˈmɒlɪ)
colloq. abbrev. of molybdenum. Also used for molybdenum disulphide (a lubricant).
| 1961 in Webster. 1963 R. F. Webb Motorists' Dict. 155 The [lubricating] action of ‘moly’ has been likened to a pack of cards resting on a table. 1970 Financial Times 13 Apr. 27/8 Not that Amax is remaining dormant on the moly front. The bringing in of the Henderson mine..will nigh on double production capacity. |