"M" Word Origins

Maurice

Middle English

From Middle English Maurice, from Late Latin Mauritius, derived from Maurus (“Moor; dark, swarthy”). Popularized by a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyr.

Mauritius

Dutch · 1600

Named after Prince Maurice of Nassau by Dutch settlers in the early seventeenth century.

Mauser

German

Named after brothers Wilhelm and Paul Mauser, the German gunsmiths and engineers who founded the company and designed its early firearms.

mausoleum

Origin · 350

From the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the immense tomb built around 350 BC for Mausolus, a ruler in ancient Asia Minor, and counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

mauve

French · 1856

From French mauve, "mallow" (the flower), named for the purple synthetic dye accidentally discovered in 1856 by chemist William Henry Perkin — the first artificial aniline dye.

maven

Origin

From Yiddish מבֿין (meyvn, “connoisseur, expert, know-it-all”), from Hebrew מֵבִין (mevín, “one who understands, connoisseur, expert”), from הֵבִין (hevín, “to understand”). The word is said to have been popularized by its use in an advertising campaign for Vita Herring launched in the United States in 1964, which had a character called the “beloved [herring] maven” promoting the product.

maverick

Origin · 1800

Named after Samuel Maverick, a 19th-century Texan rancher and politician who famously refused to brand his cattle, letting them roam unmarked — his name became a word for anyone who won't follow the herd.

Mavis

Origin · 1800

Coined in the late 19th century as a poetic name for the song thrush; also used independently as a female given name.

maw

Old English

From Old English maga, "stomach," related to German Magen and Dutch maag — all going back to a very old Germanic word for "belly."

max

Latin

Shortened from "maximum," from Latin maximus, "greatest."

maxi

Origin

A back-formation from "maximum," coined on the pattern of "mini" from "minimum."

Maxie

Origin

From Max + -ie.

maxim

Late Latin

From Anglo-Norman and Middle French maxime, going back to Late Latin maxima ("greatest premise"), from Latin maximus ("greatest").

maxima

Origin

From Latin maxima (“greatest”). Doublet of maxim.

maximal

Origin

From maximum + -al.

maximalist

Origin

From maximal + -ist, by analogy with minimalist.

Maximilian

German

From German Maximilian, ultimately of Latin origin.

maximize

Latin

From Latin maximus ("greatest") plus the English verb-forming suffix -ize.

maximum

Latin

Borrowed via French from Latin maximum, the neuter form of maximus ("greatest").

Maximus

Latin

Borrowed from Latin Maximus.

Maxine

Origin

From Max + -ine. An English feminine form of Max coined at the end of the nineteenth century. Piecewise doublet of Maxina.

Maxwell

Origin

Named after the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, whose equations unified the description of electricity and magnetism.

may

Latin

From Old English magan ("to be able"), the same ancient root behind "might" — the month name May comes from a separate Latin source, Maius.

Maya

Sanskrit

The Mesoamerican sense comes from the Maya people's own name for themselves; the philosophical sense is from Sanskrit māyā, meaning "illusion" or the power that creates it.

maybe

Middle English

Formed in Middle English from the phrase "it may be", shortened to "maybe" over time.

Mayberry

Old English

From Old English mere (“lake”) + Old English byriġ (“fortified place”).

mayday

French · 1920

Coined in the 1920s by a radio officer at Croydon Airport, based on the French phrase "venez m'aider" ("come help me"), shortened to "m'aider" and respelled "mayday" for clear radio pronunciation.

Mayer

Middle English

* As an English surname, variant of Mear, from the noun mere (both senses). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English mire, a borrowing from archaic French mire (“physician”). Compare Myer. * Also as an English name, from the noun mayor. Compare Mayor, Mair. * As a German and Dutch surname, variant of Meyer, Myers. * Also as a Dutch surname, variant of Maijer, from the noun maaier (“mower, reaper”). * As a French Canadian surname, variant of Maille, itself of Breton origin, from the adjective maget (“nourished”), from Proto-Celtic *maketi (“to raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ḱ- (“long, to raise”).

Mayes

Origin

English surname, variant of May with genitival -s.

Mayfair

Origin

Named after a May fair once held annually on the site, back when the area was still open fields on the edge of London.

Mayflower

Origin

From "May" (the month) + "flower" — either the ship named for the season, or the plants that bloom in it.

mayhap

Origin

From the phrase “it may hap”.

mayhaps

Origin

From mayhap + -s.

mayhem

Germanic

From Anglo-Norman mahaim ("mutilation"), ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "to cripple" — the everyday "chaos" sense developed later from the legal one.

Mayhew

Norman

Anglicized form of Norman Mahieu, a common form of the personal name Matthew.

Maynard

Old Dutch

From a given name, Norman Mainard, borrowed from Old Dutch meginhard from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“might”) + *harduz (“hard, strong”)

Mayo

Irish

The name of the village and county in Ireland is from Irish Maigh Eo (“plain of yew trees”).

mayonnaise

French

Borrowed from French mayonnaise; one popular theory traces it to Maó (Mahón) on the island of Minorca, said to be where the recipe originated.

mayoral

Origin

Formed from mayor plus the adjective-forming suffix -al.

Mays

Origin

* As an English surname, variant of Mayes. * As a German surname, variant of Mais. * As a Dutch surname, from a short form of Thomas.

Mayumi

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese まゆみ (Mayumi).

Mazda

Origin

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁 (mazdā, “wisdom”).

maze

Old English

From Middle English mase, related to an Old English word for bewilderment — the same root gave us "amaze".

MB

English

An initialism of megabyte, from the prefix mega- (Greek megas 'great') plus byte.

mbio

Origin

Clipped compound.

MBS

English

An initialism, expanded differently in each field.

mcalester

Origin

Variant of McAllister.

mcalister

Origin

Variant of McAllister.