An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Maser

by Friedrich Kluge

Maser, feminine, ‘vein (in wood), speck, spot,’ from Middle High German maser, masculine, Old High German masar, neuter, ‘vein, knotty excrescence on the maple and other trees’ (Middle High German also ‘goblet of speckled wood’); compare Anglo-Saxon maser, ‘knot in wood,’ English measles; Old Icelandic mǫsurr, masculine, ‘maple’ (mǫsur-bolle, ‘maple bowl’). Allied to Old High German masa, feminine, ‘wound, scar.’ The Teutonic class is the source of Romance derivatives. Compare French madré, ‘speckled,’ Middle Latin scyphi maserini, ‘drinking vessels.’