mē-

I. mē-¹

Expressing certain qualities of mind. Contracted from *meə₁-.

1. Suffixed o-grade form *mō-to-.

a. mood¹, from Old English mōd, mind, disposition;

b. gemütlich, gemütlichkeit, from Old High German muot, mind, spirit. Both a and b from Germanic *mōthaz.

2. Perhaps suffixed o-grade form *mō-s-. moral, morale, mores, morose, from Latin mōs, wont, humor, manner, custom.

 

[Pokorny 5. mē- 704.]

  II. mē-²

To measure. Contracted from *meə₁-.

Derivatives include piecemeal, immense, meter¹, geometry, moon, and semester.

I. Basic form mē-.

1. Suffixed form *mē-lo-. meal²; piecemeal, from Old English mǣl, “measure, mark, appointed time, time for eating, meal,” from Germanic *mēlaz.

2. Suffixed form *mē-ti-.

a. measure, mensural; commensurate, dimension, immense, from Latin mētīrī, to measure;

b. Metis, from Greek mētis, wisdom, skill.

3. Possibly Greek metron, measure, rule, length, proportion, poetic meter (but referred by some to med-): meter¹, meter², meter³, -meter, metrical, -metry; diameter, geometry, isometric, metrology, metronome, symmetry.

4. Reduplicated zero-grade form *mi-mə-. mahout, maund, from Sanskrit mimīte, he measures.

II. Extended and suffixed forms *mēn-, *mēn-en-, *mēn-ōt-, *mēn-s-, moon, month (an ancient and universal unit of time measured by the moon).

1. moon; Monday, from Old English mōna, moon, from Germanic *mēnōn-.

2. month, from Old English mōnath, month, from Germanic *mēnōth-.

3. meno-; amenorrhea, catamenia, dysmenorrhea, emmenagogue, menarche, meniscus, menopause, from Greek mēn, mēnē, month.

4. menses, menstrual, menstruate; bimestrial, semester, trimester, from Latin mēnsis, month.

 

[Pokorny 3. mē- 703, mēnōt 731.]

  III. me-³

Big. Contracted from *meə₁-.

1. Suffixed (comparative) form *mē-is-. more, from Old English māra, greater, and māre (adverb), more, from Germanic *maizōn-.

2. Suffixed (superlative) form *mē-isto-. most, from Old English mǣst, most, from Germanic *maista-.

3. Suffixed form *mē-ro-, *mē-ri-. Märchen, from Old High German māri, news, narration.

4. Suffixed o-grade form *mō-ro-. claymore, from Gaelic mōr, big, great.

 

[Pokorny 4. mē- 704.]

  IV. me-⁴

To cut down grass or grain with a sickle or scythe. Contracted from *meə₁-.

1. mow², from Old English māwan, to mow, from Germanic *mē-.

2. Suffixed form *mē-ti-. aftermath, from Old English mǣth, a mowing, a mown crop, from Germanic *mēdiz.

3. Suffixed form *mē-twā-, a mown field. mead², meadow, from Old English mǣd, meadow, from Germanic *mēdwō.

 

[Pokorny 2. mē- 703.]

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