An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/meuchel-

by Friedrich Kluge

meuchel-, derived, as the first part of a compound, from MidHG. miuchel-, ‘secret.’ Earlier ModHG. Meuchler, from the equiv. MidHG. miuchelœre, miucheler, late OHG. mûhhilâri, m., ‘plotter, assassin.’ Allied to MidHG. miuchelingen, ‘insidiously, like an assassin’; OHG. mühhilswërt, ‘assassin's sword, sword for assassination'; OHG. mûhhari, mûhho, mûhheo, ‘brigand, footpad’; also mûhhen, mûhhôn, ‘to attack from an ambush'; MidHG. vermûchen, ‘to get out of the way secretly, conceal,’ and MidHG. mocken, ‘to lie hidden’; further E. dial. to mitch (AS. *mŷčan), ‘to he hidden,’ MidE. micher, ‘thief.’ The entire class points to a Teut. root mûk, ‘to lurk in ambush with weapons’; a pre-Teut. root mûg appears in Kelt.; comp. OIr. formúicthe, formúichthai, ‘absconditus,’ formúichdetu, ‘occultatio.’ Since these words well accord in meaning with the HG. cognates, Goth. *muks, OIc. mjúkr, E. meek (to which Du. meuk, ‘mellow, ripe’ is allied), cannot be associated with them, since their meaning does not correspond to that of the class under discussion. See mucken and munkeln.