"M" Word Origins

merger

Origin

Formed from merge plus the suffix -er, originally as a legal term for the absorption of one estate, right, or business into another.

merhorse

Origin

From mer- + horse.

meridian

Latin

From Latin meridianus, "of midday," since the meridian line was originally defined by the sun's position at noon.

meridional

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French meridional, from Latin merīdiōnālis, from merīdiēs (“noon; south”).

meridionally

Origin

From meridional + -ly.

meringue

French

Borrowed from French; despite an old legend linking it to the Swiss town of Meiringen, the word likely comes from an earlier term for a light snack.

merit

Latin

From Middle English merite, ultimately from Latin merere, "to earn or deserve."

meritocracy

Latin

From Latin meritum 'that which is deserved' plus -cracy, from Greek -kratia 'rule, power'. The word was coined in English in the mid-20th century.

meritorious

Origin

From Middle English meritorious, borrowed between 1375 and 1425 from Latin meritōrius (“earning money”), from meritus, past participle of mereō (“to earn”).

merle

Latin

From Old French merle, from Latin merula, "blackbird."

merlin

Old French

From Old French emerillon, "small falcon," from a Germanic root meaning the same thing — unrelated to the Arthurian wizard Merlin, which comes from a Welsh name.

Merlot

French

From French, a diminutive of merle ("blackbird"), likely a nod to the grape's dark, blackbird-like colour.

mermaid

Middle English

From Middle English mermayde, literally "maid of the sea" — from mere ("sea, lake") plus maid.

merman

Old English

From Old English roots meaning "sea" plus "man," paralleling mermaid.

Merrick

Welsh

Anglicisation of Welsh Meurig.

Merrill

Origin

Variant of Muriel.

merrily

Old English

From Old English myriġlīċe, related to merry.

merriment

Origin

From merry plus the suffix -ment.

merrin

Origin

From an Aboriginal Australian language of southern Australia.

merriness

Origin

From Middle English myrienesse, myrynesse, from Old English miriġness, myriġness (“pleasantness, sweetness”), equivalent to merry + -ness.

merry

Old English

From Old English myrge, "pleasant, delightful," related to a Germanic root meaning "short" — the link is thought to be that pleasant time seems to pass quickly.

merrymaking

Origin

From merry + making.

Merv

Classical Persian

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish مرو (merv), from Classical Persian مَرْو (marw) (whence also Turkmen Merw).

Mervyn

Origin

Welsh Merfyn, probably from mer (“marrow”) (from Proto-Brythonic *mer) + myn (“eminent”) (compare Irish mín (“smooth, elegant, courteous”)).

merwolf

Origin

From mer- + wolf.

mesa

Latin

From Spanish mesa ("table"), from Latin mensa — the same root as "mensa" in geology.

mescal

Origin

From Mexican Spanish mezcal, from Nahuatl or Classical Nahuatl mexcalli (“intoxicating drink made from fermented agave juice”), perhaps from metl (“maguey (agave)”) + ixcalli (“stew”).

mescaline

Origin

From "mescal", the name of the peyote cactus, plus the chemistry suffix "-ine" used for alkaloids.

mese

Origin

From Middle English mesen, of North Germanic origin. More at meek.

mesh

Old English

From Old English masc ("net"), related to Old High German mAsca and Old Norse moskvi, going back to a root meaning "to knit or plait".

mesh network

English

From mesh, a net of interlaced strands, describing the many interconnecting links between the devices.

meshugge

Origin

From Yiddish משוגע (meshuge, “crazy”), from Hebrew מְשׁוּגָּע (m'shugá, “crazy”), a form of שׁוּגַּע (shugá, “be driven mad”) and שִׁיגַּע (shigá, “drive mad”). First came into use in English around 1880.

meshwork

Origin

From mesh + work.

mesial

Origin

Irregular derivation from Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos).

mesmerism

Origin

From French mesmérisme, analysable as Mesmer + -ism; so called after Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), a German physician who developed the animal magnetism theory.

mesmerize

English

From the name of Franz Anton Mesmer, the eighteenth-century German physician whose theory of 'animal magnetism' gave rise to the practice later called hypnotism. He practised for years in Vienna, which is why he is often loosely called Austrian.

mesmerized

Origin · 1700

From the surname of Franz Anton Mesmer, an 18th-century doctor whose theory of "animal magnetism" (mesmerism) is where the idea of hypnotic fascination comes from.

mesmerizer

Origin

From mesmerize + -er.

Mesopotamia

Greek

From Greek mesos "middle" and potamos "river," meaning "land between rivers."

mess

Middle English

From an older sense meaning food served at one sitting, related to a Middle English word for a portion of food; the "untidy state" sense developed later, possibly linked to a word for mixed-up food or animal feed.

message

Late Latin

From Old French message, from Late Latin missaticum, based on Latin mittere ("to send").

messenger

Old French

From Old French messagier (from message), with an extra "n" that crept in the way it did in similar words like "passenger" and "scavenger".

Messer

German

The sword sense comes from German Messer, meaning "knife." Separately, the "one who messes" sense simply adds the agent suffix "-er" to the English verb "mess."

messiah

Latin

From Hebrew mashiach ("anointed one"), via Aramaic, Greek, and Latin, into Middle English "Messyas".

Messina

Italian

From Italian Messina. Doublet of Messene.

messine

Origin

From French messin. By surface analysis, Metz + -ine.

Messing

Origin

From the Old English personal name *Mæcca + -ing (“belonging to”).

messy

Origin

From mess + the adjective-forming suffix -y.