"M" Word Origins

murk

Origin

From Middle English mirke, merke, from Old English mirce, myrce (“darkness, gloom”) and Old Norse myrkr (“darkness, gloom”), both from Proto-Germanic *merkwą, *mirkwiz (“darkness”), Proto-Indo-European *mergʷ- (“to flicker; to darken; to be dark”).

murkiness

Origin

From Middle English mirkines, equivalent to murky + -ness. Compare also Middle English mirkenes, merkenes (“darkness”).

murksome

Origin

From murk + -some.

murky

Middle English

From Middle English mirky, related to Old Norse myrkr ("dark") and the Slavic word family behind Russian mrak ("darkness").

murmur

Latin

From Old French murmure, from Latin murmur, an imitative word for a low humming or rumbling sound.

murmuration

Origin

1350–1400; Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”), equivalent to murmur + -ation. The “flock of starlings” sense is probably derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk.

Murphy

Irish

From the Irish surname Murphy, once used as a nickname for potatoes because of their strong association with Irish cooking and farming.

murrain

Origin

The noun is derived from Late Middle English morein, morine, moreyn (“(widespread) death; widespread sickness, plague; fatal disease; carnage; carrion”), from Anglo-Norman morine, mourine, moreyn (“death; widespread sickness, plague; carrion; cattle disease”), Middle French morine, and Old French morine, mourine, murine (“widespread sickness, plague; animal which has died from a disease”), from Late Latin morina (“plague”), probably from Latin morior (“to die; to decay, wither”). The adjective and adverb are derived from the noun. Cognates * Italian morìa (“plague”) * Latin morticīnus (“that has died naturally, dead; (relational) carrion”) (Medieval Latin morticinium) * Occitan moria (“death; plague”) * Old French morie (“death”) mourie (“flesh of animals that have died of disease”) (Middle French murie) * Portuguese morrinha (“cattle plague”) * Spanish morriña (“cattle plague”)

Murray

Proto-Celtic

From the place name Moray in northeastern Scotland, ultimately from Proto-Celtic mori ("sea") and treba ("settlement").

murrey

Origin

From Middle English murrey, murreye, from Middle French moré, morée, from Latin moratum, morata, from neuter and feminine respectively of moratus (“mulberry-colored”), from morum (“mulberry”) + -atus (“-ate”).

Murthy

Sanskrit

From Kannada ಮೂರ್ತಿ, deriving from Sanskrit मूर्ति (mūrti, "idol, icon").

Murugan

Origin

Borrowed from Tamil முருகன் (murukaṉ).

Musa

Arabic

Ultimately from Biblical Hebrew, via Arabic مُوسَى (mūsā); a doublet of Moses.

muscadine

Origin

Uncertain, but probably from muscadel, muscatel, + -ine.

muscat

Origin

Borrowed from Arabic مَسْقَط (masqaṭ).

muscle

Latin

From Latin musculus ("little mouse"), because a flexing muscle under the skin was thought to look like a small mouse moving. It shares this root with "mussel."

muscleful

Origin

From muscle + -ful.

muscleman

Origin

From muscle + man.

muscovian

Origin

From Muscovy + -ian.

muscovite

Origin

1535. From Latin Moscovita (“resident of Moscow or Muscovy, Russian”), also Muscovita, Moschovita, from Moscovia or Muscovia (“Muscovy”) + -ita.

muscovy

Origin

A learned borrowing from Latin Moscovia, derived from Russian Москва́ (Moskvá).

muscular

French

From muscle plus the adjective suffix -ar, matching the French musculaire.

muse

Ancient Greek

From Middle French muse, tracing back to Latin Musa and ultimately Ancient Greek Mousa, the word for one of the goddesses of the arts.

muser

Origin

Likely a blend of Musical.ly (or music/musical) + user.

museum

Ancient Greek

From Latin museum ("place of study"), from Ancient Greek Mouseion, meaning a shrine to the Muses.

mush

Old English

Probably a variant of mash, or from an old dialect form related to Old English mos, meaning food or porridge.

mushroom

Old French

From Middle English muscheron, borrowed via Old French from a word related to moss — because these fungi were first noticed growing among moss.

mushy

Origin

From mush + the adjective suffix -y.

music

Ancient Greek

From Old French musique, ultimately from Ancient Greek mousike, meaning "art of the Muses."

musical

Latin

From Old French, ultimately from Latin musica ("music") plus the adjective-forming suffix -al.

musically

Middle English

From Middle English musicallye, musikili; equivalent to musical + -ly.

musician

Old French

From Old French musicien, built from music plus the agent suffix -ian.

musk

Late Latin

From Old French musc, tracing back through Late Latin and Greek to a Persian and ultimately Sanskrit word for "testicle" — a reference to the shape of the gland that produces the scent.

musket

Middle French

From Middle French mousquet, via Italian moschetto ("little fly"), originally the name for a small hawk before being applied to firearms named after birds of prey.

musketeer

French

From French mousquetaire, built from musket plus the agent suffix -eer.

musketoon

Origin

From musket + -oon, after French mousqueton. Compare Italian moschettone.

muskrat

Origin

Likely influenced by its musky odour and rat-like appearance, though the word may originally come from an Algonquian name that was reshaped to sound like "musk" and "rat."

Muslim

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic muslim, meaning "one who submits," from the verb aslama, "he submitted" — referring to submission to God.

muslimist

Origin

From Muslim + -ist.

muslin

French

From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, named after Mosul, the Iraqi city where the fabric was originally associated with trade.

musquash

Origin

From Abenaki moskwas (or its Massachusett equivalent). Compare musquaw.

muss

Origin

Related to the word mess, describing disorder or untidiness.

mussel

Latin

From Old English muscle, ultimately from Latin musculus ("mussel" or "little mouse") — the same root that gives us the word muscle.

mussiness

Origin

From mussy + -ness.

mussitate

Origin

From Latin mussitō (“to keep quiet; to murmur, mutter”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from mussō (“to be silent and respectful; to say in a soft voice, murmur”) (perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mur- (“to murmur”), originally imitative) + -itō (frequentative suffix).

mussitation

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin mussitātiō (“soft noise made by dogs, or (Late Latin) people”) + English -ion (suffix denoting a condition or state). Mussitātiō is derived from mussitātus (“kept quiet; having been kept quiet; murmured, muttered; having been muttered”) (see further at mussitate) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs).

Mussolini

Italian

From the Italian surname Mussolini, itself derived from mussola or mussolina ("muslin"), tracing back to Mosul in present-day Iraq, where the fabric originated.

must

Old English

From Old English moste, the past tense of a verb meaning "to be allowed or obliged to."