"M" Word Origins

Moana

Origin

From Hawaiian and Maori moana, meaning "sea, ocean."

moat

Old French

From Old French "mote," meaning "mound" or "embankment" — the meaning later shifted from the raised earthwork itself to the ditch dug around it. The business sense was popularized by the investor Warren Buffett.

mob

Latin

A shortening of the Latin phrase "mobile vulgus" ("fickle crowd"), via the English word "mobile."

mobile

Latin

From Old French, from Latin "mobilis," meaning "easy to move," from "movere" ("to move").

mobilise

French

From French "mobiliser," built on the same root as "mobile."

mobility

Latin

From Middle French mobilité, ultimately from Latin mobilitas ("ease of movement"), the same root that gives us "mobile."

mobilization

French

From French mobilisation, built from "mobilize" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ation."

mobilize

French

From French mobiliser, from the same root as "mobile."

mobster

Origin

From "mob" plus the agent suffix "-ster," the same ending found in "gangster" and "trickster."

moby

Origin

From mobile + -y.

mocha

Origin

Named after Mocha, a port city in Yemen that was a major coffee-trading hub under Ottoman rule; the beans traded there often had a naturally chocolaty taste, which is how the word came to mean the coffee-chocolate flavour combination.

mochaccino

Origin

Blend of mocha + cappuccino.

mock

Old French

From Middle English mokken, via Old French mocquer ("to deride, jeer"), probably ultimately echoing a Germanic word for mumbling or muttering under one's breath.

mocker

Origin

From mock + -er.

mockery

Old French

From Middle English mokkery, via Anglo-Norman and Old French moquerie, from "mock" plus the noun suffix "-ery."

mockingbird

Origin

"Mocking" plus "bird," named for the bird's striking ability to mimic the calls of other species.

moctezuma

Origin

From Classical Nahuatl Motēuczōma (“he who frowns like a lord”), from mo- (reflexive prefix) + tēuc- (“lord”) + -zōma (“to frown in anger”).

mod

Origin

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic mòd.

modal

Latin

From medieval Latin modalis, from Latin modus 'measure, manner, mode'.

modality

Latin

From Medieval Latin modalitas, from Latin modus, meaning 'measure' or 'manner'.

mode

Latin

From Old French mode, from Latin modus ("measure, manner, rhythm") — the same root behind "moderate," "model," and "modern."

model

Latin

From Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, ultimately from Latin modulus, a diminutive of modus ("measure") — the same root as "mode" and "module."

modeler

Origin

From model + -er.

modem

Origin

A blend of "modulator" and "demodulator," describing the two jobs the device performs.

moderate

Latin

From Latin moderatus ("kept within measure"), from the same root as "mode" and "modest."

moderately

Middle English

From Middle English moderately, moderatelye, moderatliche, moderatly, modiratli; equivalent to moderate + -ly.

moderation

Latin

From Old French moderacion, from Latin moderatio, built from the same root as "moderate."

moderator

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin moderator, first recorded in Middle English as moderatour, built from "moderate" plus the agent suffix "-or."

modern

Late Latin

From Middle French moderne, from Late Latin modernus, ultimately from Latin modo ("just now"), from modus ("measure").

modernity

Latin

From "modern" plus the noun suffix "-ity," modeled on Latin modernitas.

modernization

Origin

From modernize + -ation or French modernisation.

modernize

Origin

From "modern" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize."

modest

Latin

From Middle French modeste, from Latin modestus ("keeping within measure, moderate").

Modesto

Spanish

From Spanish Modesto.

modesty

Latin

From Middle French modestie, from Latin modestia, from the same root as "modest."

Modi

Origin

Transliteration of Gujarati મોદી (modī).

modicum

Latin

From Latin modicum ("a small amount"), related to modus ("measure").

modifiable

Origin

From French modifiable. By surface analysis, modify + -able.

modification

Latin

From Middle French modification, from Latin modificatio ("a measuring"), from modificare ("to limit, regulate"); see "modify."

modified

Origin

Blend of Modi + modified

modify

Latin

From Middle French modifier, from Latin modificare ("to regulate, moderate"), from modus ("measure") plus facere ("to make").

modiste

Origin

From French modiste. Compare modist.

modular

Origin

From "module" plus the adjective suffix "-ar."

modulation

Origin

From Late Middle English modulacion, modulacioun (“act of making music or singing; harmony; melody, song”), from Middle French modulation (modern French modulation), and directly from its etymon Latin modulātiō (“regular or rhythmical measure, modulation; inflection of tone; (architecture) calculation of measurements from a standard unit; (Late Latin) act of making music or singing; melody, song”), from modulātus (“modulated”) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Modulātus is a perfect participle of modulor (“to beat time; to make music or sing; to measure; etc.”), from modulus (“rhythmical measure, interval; rhythm; small interval or measure, etc.”) + -or (suffix forming certain inflections of verbs); and modulus is from modus (“measure; method; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure; etc.”)) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, modulat(e) + -ion (suffix denoting an action or process, or its result).

modulator

Origin

From "modulate" plus the agent suffix "-or."

module

Latin

Borrowed from French module, from Latin modulus ("a small measure"), a diminutive of modus ("measure") — the same root as "mode" and "model."

modus

Latin

From Latin modus, meaning "measure" or "manner" — the same root that gives us the word "mode."

modus operandi

Latin

Latin, literally 'way of operating', from modus 'manner' and operandi, the gerund of operari 'to work'.