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Mühle, Merels, Mills, Malom: one game, many names
Ask for Nine Men's Morris in Berlin, Budapest, Paris or Boston and you will get four different answers. The surprise is how many of them mean the same thing: a mill.
The mill family
Across Europe, the most common name for the game is based on the word mill, after the pattern of three men in a row, which is also the heart of the game. A row of three is a mill in English too, and in many languages the whole game is named after it.
| Language | Name | Means |
|---|---|---|
| German | Mühle | mill |
| Hungarian | Malom | mill |
| French | Jeu du moulin | mill game |
| Italian | Mulino | mill |
| Spanish | Juego del molino | mill game |
| Portuguese | Trilha | track |
| Danish, Norwegian | Mølle | mill |
| Finnish | Mylly | mill |
| Polish | Młynek | little mill |
| Slovak | Mlyn | mill |
| Russian | Мельница (Melnitsa) | mill |
| Chinese | 直棋 (zhí qí) | straight chess |
English: Merels, Morris and Mills
English has several names. Mill or mills is the game as well as the pattern. Merels (also spelled merrills or merelles) is the older name, thought to come from an Old French word merel, meaning a counter or token, and morris in "Nine Men's Morris" is believed to be a worn-down form of it. The game was also called nine-penny marl, and in North America cowboy checkers.
German: Mühle
In German, Mühle is the name of the game and of the row of three. A mill that opens and closes to win a man every move is a Zwickmühle (a pinching mill). The placing phase is the Setzphase, the moving phase the Zugphase and the flying phase the Springphase. Mühle is a household game across German-speaking countries.
Hungarian: Malom
In Hungary the game is malom, the Hungarian word for a mill. It also gave its name to a strong computer program, Malom, written by Gábor Gévay and Gábor Danner at the University of Szeged, which plays Nine Men's Morris perfectly.
French: Jeu du moulin and marelle
In French the game is le jeu du moulin, or le moulin for short, after the mill, and in older French merelles or marelles. Today la marelle usually means hopscotch, a pattern drawn on the ground, so the old word has drifted to a cousin of the game.
Why so many names that mean the same?
Nobody can say for certain. What is clear is that the game travelled across Europe for centuries, and that the row of three evidently suggested a mill to people in many places, so each language ended up with its own word for the same picture. The smaller cousin, Three Men's Morris, went the other way: the Romans called it terni lapilli ("three pebbles each"), and English schoolchildren know it as noughts and crosses.
How to say it
A rough guide for the English ear. Mühle has a long ü, as in French tu, followed by a soft "luh". Malom is "MAH-lom", with the stress on the first syllable, as in all Hungarian words. Moulin is roughly "moo-LAN". Merels is "MER-ulz". If you are sitting down to play with a relative in another country, learning that one word is half the introduction.
The pieces have names too
In English the pieces are men (hence "nine men's"), and in old texts also merels or counters. German players call them Steine, stones, and speak of placing, moving and jumping them (setzen, ziehen, springen). Such naming differences are why a rulebook translated word for word can read strangely: the game is the same, the vocabulary is local.
Other names and cousins
South Africa plays Morabaraba, the twelve-man variant with diagonals. The old Danish name was Nitavl, nine-board. Italians call the nine-man game mulino, the Spanish molino, and the Poles młynek: the little mill.
One game, one board
Whatever you call it, the board is the same: three squares, four lines, 24 points. A German, a Hungarian and a Frenchman can sit down and play without sharing a word, and every one of them will understand when a mill closes. To see how the game spread, read the history of Morris, or learn the basic rules.
Frequently asked questions
What is Nine Men's Morris called in German?
Mühle, which means mill. Three men in a row are also called a Mühle.
What is Nine Men's Morris called in Hungarian?
Malom, the Hungarian word for mill. The strong Malom program that plays the game perfectly is named after it.
Is Nine Men's Morris the same as merels?
Yes. Merels (or merrills) is an older English name for the same game. 'Morris' is thought to be a form of the word merels.