"M" Word Origins

multiverse

Origin · 1895

Coined around 1895 by American philosopher William James, blending "multiple" and "universe."

mum

Origin

Probably an abbreviation of "mummy," related to "mama" and "mom."

Mumbai

Origin

From Marathi मुंबई (mumbaī), from मुंबा (mumbā, the goddess Mumba) plus आई (āī, "mother").

mumble

Middle English

From Middle English momelen, related to "mum" (silent); similar words exist in German and Dutch for indistinct chewing or muttering.

mumchance

Origin

From Middle English mommen (“mutter, be silent”) and Middle High German mummenschantze (“game of chance as part of a masquerade, mime performance, revel”), from Old French momen (“mask”) and chance (“game of chance”).

mummer

Origin

From Middle English mummer, mommer, equivalent to mum + -er, perhaps conflating with Old French momeor (“jester, entertainer”), from mommer (“to wear a mask”), from momon (“mask”). Compare German Mumme (“mask”), 16th Century German mummen (“to disguise oneself”), Middle Dutch mommen, mummen (“to go about in a mask, to disguise”), Middle Low Saxon mommen (“to wear a mask, to disguise”), Dutch mom (“mask”) and mimmen (“to mask”) as well as Spanish momo (“grimace”). Perhaps both of the conflated terms are from the same ultimate root, as note Middle Low Saxon mummen (“to speak indistinctly, to disguise oneself”), Dutch mommen (“to speak indistinctly”), German mummen (“to speak indistinctly”), English mump (“to grimace, mumble”).

mummification

French

From "mummify" plus the noun-forming ending "-ication," modelled on French momification.

mummy

Medieval Latin

From Arabic mūmiyāʔ via Persian mumyā ("wax"), passing through Medieval Latin and French into English.

mummyhood

Origin

From mummy + -hood.

mump

Origin

Perhaps borrowed through obsolete Dutch mompen (“to cheat, swindle, deceive”), according to Kroonen, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *mump- (“to stain”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mm̥bʰ-neh₂- Also akin to German mimpfeln (“to mumble”), Icelandic mumpa (“to take into the mouth”). See also English mum. While Kroonen claims Ancient Greek μέμφομαι (mémphomai, “I blame, accuse”) and the Germanic forms are reconcilable and related, Beekes rejects this, stating that Germanic -p- cannot here correspond to Greek -φ- and that this etymological connection is not widely considered reliable.

mumps

Origin

From "mump" (to grimace), likely referring to the swollen, pained facial expression the illness causes.

mumpsimus

Origin

Malapropism of Latin sumpsimus, form of sūmō (“to take”), from a story of an old monk who misrecited the Eucharist with quod in ōre mumpsimus instead of quod in ōre sumpsimus “which we have taken into the mouth”, and stubbornly continued using the incorrect form even after being corrected. Attested 1530 in The Practice of Prelates by William Tyndale, variously attributed to Richard Pace (1517) or Desiderius Erasmus.

mumsy

Origin

From mum + -sy. Attested from 1876.

mun

Middle English

From Middle English mone ("shall, must"), from Old Norse munu, tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to intend" or "to be about to."

munch

Middle English

From Middle English monchen, probably imitating the sound of chewing.

munchable

Origin

From munch + -able.

Munchausen

German

Borrowed from German Münchausen.

munchies

Origin

Formed from "munchie" (a snack) plus the plural ending "-s."

Munchkin

Origin

Named after the Munchkins, the small people from L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz.

mundane

Late Latin

From Old French mondain, from Late Latin mundanus, from Latin mundus ("world").

Mundy

Origin

A Scottish habitational surname from the town of Munday.

mune

Origin

A playful back-formation, invented on the mistaken assumption that "immune" was formed from a prefix "im-" plus "mune" — it wasn't, but the joke word stuck.

mung

Sanskrit

The bean sense traces through Hindi mūṅg from Sanskrit mudga; the "corrupt data" sense arose separately in computing slang.

mungo

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic Mungo, the nickname of Saint Mungo (Kentigern), founder and patron saint of Glasgow.

Munich

French

Ultimately from German München, probably transmitted into English via French Munich.

municipal

Latin

From French municipal, from Latin municipalis, ultimately from mūnus ("duty") plus capiō ("to take") — the same idea behind a citizen taking on civic duties.

municipality

Latin

From French municipalité, built on Latin municipium ("free town"), from municeps ("citizen of a free town") — from mūnus ("duty") + capiō ("to take").

munificent

Origin

Back-formation from munificence, from Latin mūnificentia.

munition

Origin

From Latin mūnitiō (“a defence, fortification”) via French munition, from mūnīre (“fortify, defend (with a wall)”) + -tiō, from moenia (“city walls, defensive walls, or walls in general”). Equivalent to munite + -ion.

Munk

German

As a German, Scandinavian, and Dutch surname, from the noun for "monk".

Munro

Origin · 1891

Named after Sir Hugh Thomas Munro, the Scottish mountaineer who first catalogued these peaks in 1891.

Munsch

German

Borrowed from German Munsch, a surname typical of Alsatia.

Munster

Old Norse

From Old Irish Mumu plus Old Norse staðr.

munted

Origin

Possible etymologies: * From a Germanic language; compare Danish munter, German munter, Old High German muntar, all meaning "lively" or "merry". * From Scottish Gaelic mùin (“to urinate, piss”), thus analogous to the sense "pissed". * Blend of monged + cunted.

Muppet

Origin

Likely a variant of "moppet," an old word for a small child or darling; it later became strongly associated with Jim Henson's puppet characters and picked up the slang sense of "silly person."

Murad

Arabic

From Ottoman Turkish مراد (murad), from Arabic مُرَاد (murād).

Murakami

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 村上 (Murakami), literally "upper town".

mural

Latin

From French mural, from Latin muralis, from murus ("wall").

murali

Origin

Likely borrowed from Tamil முளரி (muḷari), meaning "bramble."

Murat

Turkish

Borrowed from Turkish Murat.

Murata

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 村田 (Murata).

murdelize

Origin

Perhaps a blend of murder + pulverize.

murder

Old English

From Old English morþor ("secret killing"), from a Germanic root meaning "death, killing," related to Old Norse morð and German Mord.

murderer

Middle English

From Middle English murderere, formed from murder plus the agent suffix -er.

murderous

Origin

From murder plus the adjective-forming suffix -ous.

Murdoch

Scottish Gaelic

Possibly from Scottish Gaelic muir ("sea") or muireach ("mariner").

Murdock

Origin

Scottish surname, Anglicized from the Scottish Gaelic name Muireadhach (“mariner”), Murchadh (“sea-warrior”), Muircheartach (“sea-ruler”), all having as the first element of muir (“sea”).

Muriel

Scottish Gaelic

An anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Muireall, from muir ("sea") and geal ("white, bright").