"M" Word Origins

From menstruate + -or.

From Anglo-Norman menstruus, Middle French menstrueus, and their source, Late Latin menstruosus (“menstruating”), from Latin mēnstruum.

From Late Latin mensūrātiōnem (“a measuring”).

A compound of men + wear.

From Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns ("mind").

From mental + -ist.

From mental + -ity.

From mental + -ly.

Back-formation from mentor. Although mentor comes from Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr), the name of a mythological figure, it was mistakenly analyzed as terminating in the suffix -or (“doer”), leading to a form using the French patientive suffix -ee on the model of pairs such as donor–donee and employer–employee. Attested since at least 1958.

From Latin mentha ("mint") plus the chemical suffix -ol.

From Old French mention, from Latin mentiō ("a calling to mind, a mention").

From mention + -able.

From the character Mentor in Homer's Odyssey, the trusted advisor left in charge of Odysseus's son Telemachus — the name became a general word for "wise counselor."

Learned borrowing from Latin mentum (“the chin”). Doublet of menton.

Borrowed from French menu ("small, detailed"), from Latin minūtus — the same root as "minute" (small).

From Early Scots Menȝies, from Scottish Gaelic Mèinnearach, from Anglo-Norman Mesnières.

An imitation of the sound itself (onomatopoeia), replacing the older English word "mew" in the 19th century.

Of uncertain origin. More information The two-time occurrence of -ph- which is the Roman transliteration for Ancient Greek φ and of the termination -es which transliterates Ancient Greek -ης as in Aristoteles (Ἀριστοτέλης) along with the resemblance -phel-/-phil- bears to φιλεῖν (phileîn, “to love”) has led many to believe that this must originally be a Greek compound word. Based on this assumption, the first two letters have been identified with μή (mḗ, “not”), while -phisto-/-phosto- has been interpreted as a corruption of φωτο- (phōto-), the compositional form of φῶς (phôs, “light”). The name would thus mean "not loving light" which seems fitting for a devil. However, there are two major problems with this theory. Firstly, phōto- is a common and clearly recognizable morpheme in Greek, making it an unlikely candidate for corruption. Secondly, μή (mḗ) is not typically used in Ancient Greek name formation. A more credible explanation has been proposed by Julius Goebel. He focuses on the alternative form Mephistophiel, which appears in the Praxis Cabulae nigrae Doctoris Johannis Fausti magi celeberrimi (1612). He interprets mephist- as a disguised form of megist-, transliterating μέ

From Latin mefītis, mephītis, from the name of a Samnite goddess who personified the poisonous gases emitted from swamps and volcanoes.

A shortening of "polymer" — chemists coined "mer" to name the single repeating unit that, strung together many times, forms the whole polymer.

A shortened, informal form of "Mercedes" (the car) or "mercenary."

Borrowed from Spanish Mercado, from mercado (“market”).

From French mercantile, from Italian mercantile, from mercante ("merchant"), ultimately from Latin merx ("merchandise").

From Spanish Mercedes (Mary, Our Lady of Mercy). The car was named for Mercédès Jellinek, the daughter of Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek who ordered 36 cars from Gottlieb Daimler.

From Latin mercēnārius ("hired for money"), from mercēs ("wages, reward").

From Anglo-Norman mercer ("cloth merchant"), ultimately from Latin merx, "goods" or "merchandise."

A casual clipping of "merchandise," popular from the late 20th century onward.

From Old French marcheandise, tracing back to Latin mercatus, "trade" or "market" — the same root that gives us "market" and "commerce."

From merchandise plus the suffix -ing, describing the ongoing practice or business of promoting goods.

From Anglo-Norman marchaunt, from Latin mercor, "to trade or deal" — the same root behind "merchandise" and "market."

Borrowed from French merci ("thank you"), a doublet of the English word "mercy" — both trace back to Latin mercedem, "reward" or "favour."

Latinization of Old English Mierċe (literally “border people”), derived from mearc, whence mark.

From French Mercier, from French mercier. Compare Mercy, Marshall.

From Middle English merciful, built from mercy plus the suffix -ful; it replaced the older native English word mildheort.

From Middle English mercyfulnes, mercyfullenesse, equivalent to merciful + -ness.

From mercy + -fy.

From Middle English merciles, formed from mercy plus -less, meaning literally "without mercy."

From Latin mercurialis 'of Mercury', the Roman god of commerce and messages, whose swiftness gave the word its sense of quickness and changeability.

From Middle English mercurie, ultimately named after the Roman god Mercury, likely because of the metal's quick, fluid movement.

From Anglo-Norman merci, from Latin mercedem ("wages" or "reward"), which also produced the French word merci ("thank you").

Borrowed directly from French merde ("shit"); related to the English word "merd," now archaic.

From Old French mier, from Latin merus ("pure, undiluted") — the same root gives us the sense of "nothing but, simply."

From Welsh Maredudd (“great lord”).

From Middle English mereli, formed from mere plus the adverb suffix -ly.

From Latin meretrīcius, from meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”), from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -trīx (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).

Borrowed from Latin meretrīx.

From Latin mergere, "to dip or plunge into" — the idea of one thing being absorbed into another.

A compound of merge, the act of combining two lines of changes, and conflict.