maltyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[malt 词源字典]
malt: [OE] Malt goes back to prehistoric Germanic *malt-, a variant of which produced English melt. Hence it seems to denote etymologically the ‘softening’ of the barley or other grain by steeping it in water preparatory to germinating it for use in brewing (German malz means ‘soft’ as well as ‘malt’).
=> melt[malt etymology, malt origin, 英语词源]
malt (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
Old English malt (Anglian), mealt (West Saxon), from Proto-Germanic *maltam (cognates: Old Norse malt, Old Saxon malt, Middle Dutch, Dutch mout, Old High German malz, German Malz "malt"), from PIE *meld- (see melt (v.)), extended form of root *mel- "soft," probably via notion of "softening" the grain by steeping it in water before brewing. Finnish mallas, Old Church Slavonic mlato are considered to be borrowed from Germanic.
malt (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-15c., "to convert grain to malt," from malt (n.). Meaning + "to make with malt" is from c. 1600. Related: Malted; malting. Malt liquor (which is fermented, not brewed) first attested 1690s. Malted "a drink with malted milk" is from 1945.