"M" Word Origins

From myo- (“relating to muscle”), and Ancient Greek μυός (muós), genitive of μῦς (mûs, “muscle”) + -in.

First used by the poet Fulke Greville, possibly as an anagram of the name Mary.

From Ancient Greek murioi ("countless, ten thousand"), via Latin and French — originally used to mean exactly ten thousand before it came to mean simply "a huge number."

From taxonomic name Myriapoda.

An anglicization of the Irish name Muirne, meaning "beloved," made popular in the 20th century by actress Myrna Loy.

Borrowed from the Ancient Greek name Myron.

From Old English myrre, ultimately from a Semitic word related to "bitterness" — the same root behind the Arabic and Hebrew words for myrrh.

From Old French mirtille, ultimately from Latin myrtus, from Ancient Greek myrtos ("myrtle").

From Old English mē selfum ("me self"), later reanalyzed as my + self.

An anglicised version of Kannada ಮಹಿಶೂರು (mahiśūru, literally “abode of Mahisha”). Though in Sanskrit Mahisha means "buffalo", here it refers to Mahishasura, a mythological demon who could assume the form of both a human and a buffalo. According to Hindu mythology, the area was ruled by the demon Mahishasura. The demon was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is situated atop the Chamundi Hills. Mahishūru later became Mahisūru (a name which, even now, the royal family uses) and finally came to be called Maisūru, its present name in the Kannada language.

From the name of the social networking site MySpace, popular in the mid-2000s.

From Middle French mystérieux, ultimately from Latin mysterium ("mystery").

From Middle English misteriusly, equivalent to mysterious + -ly.

From Latin mysterium, from Ancient Greek mysterion ("a secret rite"), from a root meaning "to initiate."

From Old French mistique, from Latin mysticus, from Ancient Greek mystikos ("secret, mystic").

From mystic + -ism, ultimately from Ancient Greek mystikos ("secret, mystic").

From mystify + -er.

From French mystifier, from Ancient Greek μυστικός (mustikós, “secret, mystic”) + Latin -ficare.

Borrowed from French mystique, itself from Latin mysticus — a doublet of the English word "mystic."

From Ancient Greek mythos ("word, story, tale"), which entered English usage in this form around 1830.

From Latin mythicus or Ancient Greek mythikos, formed from myth + -ic.

From Latin mȳthicus + -al; by surface analysis, myth + -ical.

From mythology + -ical.

From Middle French mythologie, from Latin mythologia, from Greek mythos ("story") plus -logia ("study of").