An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Meise

by Friedrich Kluge

Meise, feminine, ‘titmouse,’ from the equivalent Middle High German meise, Old High German meisa, feminine; compare Dutch mees, Anglo-Saxon mâse (English only in titmouse, a corruption of tit-moase; Anglo-Saxon â is equivalent to English oa); Old Icelandic meisingr, masculine, with a suffix ‘titmouse.’ A term peculiar to Teutonic, which passed also into French (French mésange, ‘titmouse,’ formed from Scandinavian meisingr?); origin obscure. Only a few names of birds can be traced beyond the Teutonic group (compare Aar, Drossel, Specht, and Kranich).