"M" Word Origins

malu

Origin

Borrowed directly from Samoan.

malunion

Origin

From mal- + union.

malware

Origin

A blend of "malicious" and "software."

mam

Origin

Alteration or clipping of mama. Compare Scots mam, Early Scots mame (“mother”), mamye (“wet nurse”), Saterland Frisian Määme (“mother”), West Frisian mem (“mother”). Alternatively, possibly either conserved from or influenced by earlier Brythonic language.

mama

Origin

Probably a reduplication of the baby-talk sound "ma," found in similar forms across many unrelated languages.

mamacita

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish mamacita, a diminutive of mamá.

mamaw

Origin

Probably an affectionate alteration of mama or reduplication of mother.

mamba

Origin

From Zulu ímâmba, ultimately from a Proto-Bantu root.

mambo

Spanish

From Haitian Creole manbo ("voodoo priestess"), later applied to the Cuban dance style via Cuban Spanish.

mami

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish mami.

Mamie

Origin

From mam /mama + -ie.

mamilla

Origin

Borrowed from Latin mamilla.

mamma

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin mamma ("breast").

mammal

Latin · 1758

From Modern Latin Mammalia, coined in 1758 by Linnaeus, from Latin mamma ("breast").

mammer

Origin

From Middle English mameren (“to hesitate, be undecided, waver, mutter”), from Old English māmrian, māmorian (“to think through, deliberate, plan out, design”), from Proto-Germanic *maimrōną (“to take care, worry”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *smer- (“to fall into thought, remember, take care”). Related to Old English māmor (“deep thought, deep sleep, unconsciousness”), Old English mimorian (“to remember”), Dutch mijmeren (“to ponder, muse”). More at remember.

mammet

Origin

From Middle English mawmet, from Anglo-Norman maumet, shortened form of mauhoumet, mahumet; deriving from Andalusian Arabic مَحُمَّدْ (“Maḥummad”), ultimately derived from Arabic Muhammad.

mammock

Origin

From mam (of obscure origin) + -ock (diminutive suffix).

mammogram

Latin

From "mammo-" (relating to the breast) plus "-gram" (a written or recorded image).

mammon

Origin

From Late Latin mammona (“wealth”), from Hellenistic Ancient Greek μαμωνᾶς (mamōnâs), from Aramaic מָמוֹנָא (māmōnā, “money, wealth”). Compare Hebrew מָמוֹן (mamón, “money”).

mammoth

Russian

From an old Russian word, mámont, probably borrowed from a Uralic word meaning "earth horn."

mammy

Origin

From "mam" plus the diminutive suffix "-y."

mamo

Origin

Borrowed directly from Hawaiian mamo.

mampus

Origin

Borrowed from Malay mampus (“to die, to perish, to be wiped out”).

mamzer

Origin

Borrowed from Hebrew מַמְזֵר (mamzér, “a bastard”).

man

Old English

From Old English mann ("human being, person"), going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root simply meaning "human being" — the word originally covered both sexes before narrowing, in most uses, to mean an adult male.

mana

Origin · 1969

Borrowed from Maori mana, from a much older Polynesian root with the same meaning. Its now-common gaming sense ("magic points") was popularized by science-fiction writer Larry Niven in 1969 and later spread through tabletop and video games.

manacle

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English manacle, manakelle, manakil, manakyll, manicle, manikil, manycle, manykil, manykle, from Anglo-Norman manicle, manichle (“gauntlet; handle of a plough; (in plural) manacles”), and Middle French manicle, Old French manicle (“armlet; gauntlet; (in plural) manacles”) (modern French manicle, manique (“gauntlet”)), from Latin manicula (“handle of a plough; manacle”), from manus (“hand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)) + -cula (from -culus, variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutive nouns)). Doublet of manicle and manicule. The verb is probably derived from the noun, although according to the Oxford English Dictionary it is attested slightly earlier.

manage

Latin

From Old French manege ("horse training, horsemanship"), from Italian maneggiare ("to handle"), ultimately from Latin manus, "hand." The oldest sense was literally about handling horses; "being in charge of" and "coping with" are later extensions.

manageable

Origin

From manage plus the suffix -able ("capable of").

management

Origin

Formed from manage plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

manager

Origin

From manage plus the agent suffix -er, "one who manages."

managerial

Origin

From manager plus the adjective-forming suffix -ial.

manakin

Origin

Generally thought to derive, like manikin, from Middle Dutch mannekijn. Compare French manakin, German Manakin. Doublet of manikin and mannequin.

mañana

Spanish

From Spanish mañana, meaning both morning and tomorrow, from Latin mane, in the morning.

manatee

Spanish

Borrowed via Spanish manatí from a Caribbean indigenous language, where the root word meant "breast."

Manav

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit मानव (mānava).

manback

Origin

Compare horseback.

mancha

Spanish

From Spanish mancha ("stain, spot"), also the name of the La Mancha region famous for saffron production.

Manchester

Latin

From Old English Mameceaster, combining a Brythonic place-name element (possibly related to a word for a breast-shaped hill) with Old English ceaster ("Roman fort"), from Latin castra ("camp").

Manchu

Origin

Borrowed from the Manchu word manju, likely rooted in an old Tungusic term connected to the Amur River.

Manchuria

Dutch · 1800

Formed from Manchu plus the place-name suffix -ia, likely popularized through Dutch and Japanese sources describing the region in the 19th century.

Manchurian

Origin

From Manchuria plus the adjective suffix -an.

Mancini

Italian

From Italian Mancini.

Mancuso

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Mancuso.

Manda

Hindi

As a nickname, an informal short form of Amanda; as a language name, borrowed separately from Hindi and other source languages.

mandala

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit मण्डल (mandala), meaning "circle" or "disc."

Mandalay

Origin

Borrowed from Burmese.

mandarin

Portuguese

Traces back through Portuguese and Malay to Sanskrit mantrin ("counselor, minister"). The word originally referred to Chinese imperial officials, and both the "esoteric official language" sense and the citrus fruit sense (named for the fruit's orange, official-style robes) developed from that.