mer-

mer-
mer- pref.
Variant of mero-.

* * *

To rub away, harm.
Derivatives include nightmare, morsel, morbid, mortal, mortgage, and ambrosia.
I.
1. nightmare, from Old English mare, mære, goblin, incubus, from Germanic *marōn-, goblin.
2. marasmus; amaranth, from Greek marainein, to waste away, wither.
3. Probably suffixed zero-grade form *mr̥-to-, “ground down.” mortar, from Latin mortārium, mortar.
4. Possibly extended root *merd-. mordacious, mordant, mordent, morsel; premorse, remorse, from Latin mordēre, to bite.
5. Possibly suffixed form *mor-bho-. morbid, from Latin morbus, disease (but this is more likely of unknown origin).
II. Possibly the same root is *mer-, “to die,” with derivatives referring to death and to human beings as subject to death.
1. Zero-grade form *mr̥-.
a. Suffixed form *mr̥-tro-. murder, from Old English morthor, murder, from Germanic suffixed form *mur-thra-;
b. suffixed form *mr̥-ti-. mort1, mortal; amortize, mortify, postmortem, from Latin mors (stem mort-), death;
c. suffixed form *mr̥-yo-. moribund, mortgage, mortmain, mortuary, murrain, from Latin morī, to die, with irregular past participle mortuus (< *mr̥-two-), replacing older *mr̥-to- (for which see d);
d. prefixed and suffixed form *n̥-mr̥-to-, “undying, immortal.” (*n̥-, negative prefix; see ne).
(i) immortal, from Latin immortālis;
(ii) ambrosia, from Greek ambrotos, immortal, divine (a- + -mbrotos, brotos, mortal);
(iii) amrita, from Sanskrit amṛtam, immortality (a- + mṛta-, dead).
2. Suffixed o-grade form *mor-t-yo-. manticore, from Greek mantikhōras (corrupted from marti(o)khōras), manticore, probably from Iranian compound *martiya-khvāra-, “man-eater” (*khvāra-, eating; see swel-), from Old Persian martiya-, a mortal man.
 
[Pokorny 4. mer-, 5. mer- 735.]

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Universalium. 2010.

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