An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Met

by Friedrich Kluge

Met, masculine, ‘mead,’ from Middle High German mët, mëte, Old High German mëtu, mitu, masculine, ‘mead’; compare Anglo-Saxon meodo, English mead, Old Icelandic mjǫðr; Gothic *midus, masculine, ‘mead,’ is by chance not recorded. A common Teutonic and also common Aryan word; Aryan *medhu, Sanscrit mádhu, neuter, ‘sweetness, honey, sweet drink, Greek μέθυ, ‘wine’ (to which μεθύω, ‘to be drunk, and μέθη, ‘drunkenness’), Old Slovenian medŭ, ‘honey, wine,’ Lithuanian midùs, ‘mead,’ medùs, ‘honey,’ Irish mid. To these is allied Old Indian mádhu, ‘sweet, lovely,’ hence the various meanings of medhu, ‘mead, honey, wine,’ literally ‘that which is sweet,’ perhaps (according to Greek μεθύω,) ‘intoxicating liquid.’ Compare süß.