"M" Word Origins

Macintosh

Scottish Gaelic

Named after the McIntosh apple, itself named after the Scottish surname McIntosh, from Scottish Gaelic meaning "son of the chief."

MacIntyre

Origin

From Gaelic "Mac an t-Saoir," meaning "son of the carpenter."

Mack

Origin

The raincoat sense is a shortening of mackintosh, named after inventor Charles Macintosh. The slang senses for smooth flirting likely trace back to "mack" meaning a pimp, itself from mackerel, an old slang term possibly linked to procuring.

Mackay

Origin

Variant of McKay.

Mackenzie

Scottish Gaelic

Spelling pronunciation of Scots MacKenȝie with the letter ⟨ȝ⟩ confused with ⟨z⟩. Ultimately from Scottish Gaelic MacCoinnich, itself from mac (“son, descendant”) + Coinnich (“of Coinneach”).

mackerel

Old French

From Middle English makerel, borrowed from Old French maquerel — the deeper origin is uncertain.

Mackey

Origin

Compare Mackie, McKay.

Mackie

Origin

Compare Mackey, McKay.

mackinnon

Origin

From Scottish Gaelic MhicFhionghain, from Fhionghain (“Fingon”).

mackintosh

Origin · 1823

Named after Charles Macintosh, who patented the rubberized waterproof fabric in 1823; an extra "k" was added to the spelling later.

Macklin

Irish

Ultimately from Irish Mac Gille Eoin.

mackly

Origin

From Middle English makli, from make (“easy”, adjective), from Old Norse makr (“easy”), from Proto-Germanic *makaz (“comfortable, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, press”), equivalent to make + -ly. Cognate with Old English macalīc (“convenient”), Scots makly, Middle Low German gemaclīch, Middle High German gemechlīche (“easily”) (German gemächlich (“gently”)), Dutch makkelijk (“easy”).

Maclean

Origin

From Gaelic "Mac Gille Eoin," meaning "son of the servant of (Saint) John."

Macleod

Origin

Anglicization of various Irish or Scottish Gaelic surnames. In Canada, the surname is also used as a common Anglicization of Cree ᒪᐦᑭᔪᐠ (mahkiyok, “the big one”) according to records of Scottish missionaries. * (town in Alberta): see entry for Fort Macleod.

MacMillan

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic. For many people so surnamed today (worldwide), their name can be traced back to the Clan MacMillan. The word roots are covered at McMillan.

Macon

French

The wine name comes from the French town of Mâcon; macon (mutton bacon) is a blend of "mutton" and "bacon."

Macpherson

Origin

From Gaelic "Mac a' Phearsain," meaning "son of the parson."

macro

Origin · 1959

Shortened from "macroinstruction", first used in computing around 1959.

macrocosm

Origin

From Middle French macrocosme (from Old French macrocosme) and Medieval Latin macrocosmus, formed from Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “great, long”) + κόσμος (kósmos, “universe, order”).

macrodactyly

Origin

From macro- + dactyly.

macroeconomics

Origin

From macro- (“large scale”) + economics. The first published use of the term was by the Norwegian economist Ragnar Frisch (1895–1973) in 1933.

macros

English

A shortening of macronutrients, from Greek makros 'large, long' plus nutrient.

mactavish

Origin

Anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic MacTàmhais, a patronymic surname meaning "son of Thomas".

macula

Origin

From Middle English macula (“spot on the skin or in the eye”), borrowed from Latin macula (“spot, stain”). Doublet of macchia and macule.

macular

Origin

From macula or macule + -ar.

maculate

Origin

First attested during the last quarter of the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English maculaten (“to spoil, polute”), borrowed from Latin maculātus, perfect passive participle of maculō (“to spot”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

macule

Origin

From Middle English macule, from Middle French macule and its etymon Classical Latin macula. Doublet of macchia, macula and, with a suffix, maquis.

maculism

Origin

From maculate + -ism, or a back-formation from immaculism.

Macy

Origin

From a Norman surname tied to places called Massy in France, ultimately from a Gallo-Roman personal name.

mad

Old English

From Old English gemæd(ed), "made insane", tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to change or damage".

Madagascar

French

Borrowed via French from a name recorded by Marco Polo, likely a garbled version of an Arabic place name originally referring to a different location entirely.

madam

Latin

From Old French madame, literally "my lady", from Latin mea domina.

Madan

Arabic

From Arabic معدان (Ma'dān).

madcap

Origin

Literally "mad head" — from mad plus an old informal word for "head", cap.

madden

Origin

From mad plus the verb-forming suffix -en, on the pattern of words like "sadden" and "deepen".

madder

Old English

From Old English mædere, going back to a Proto-Germanic root for the plant, related to Swedish måra.

Maddie

Origin

Clipping + -ie.

maddison

Origin

From Madde (a medieval diminutive of Maud and Magdalene) + -son.

Maddox

Welsh

From the Welsh surname Madog, later anglicized to Maddox.

Maddy

Origin

Clipping of Madeleine or Madison + -y.

made

Old English

From Middle English mathe, from Old English maþa ("maggot, worm"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning grub or caterpillar — the same root behind the modern word maggot.

Madeira

Portuguese

From Portuguese madeira, meaning "wood" — the island was named for its dense forests when discovered.

madeleine

French

Named after the French given name Madeleine; sense 2 comes from a famous passage in Marcel Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time, where a bite of madeleine cake unlocks a flood of childhood memories.

Madeline

French

Anglicized from French Madeleine, ultimately from the Greek name Magdalene.

Madelyn

Origin

An alteration of Madeline with -lyn.

mademoiselle

French

Borrowed directly from French, literally "my damsel".

madge

Origin

See the etymology at magpie for a related discussion.

Madhav

Hindi

Borrowed from Hindi माधव (mādhav), an epithet of the god Krishna.