Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/245

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comp. Du. maag, AS. maga, MidE. mawe, E. maw, OIc. mage, Dan. mave, ‘stomach’; Goth. *maga (gen. *magins) is wanting. From Teut. is derived Ital. (dial.) magone, ‘crop (of birds),’ or rather magun, also magon, ‘vexation,’ to which Rhæto-Rom. magún, ‘stomach,’ is allied.’ For the early history of the word we have no definite clue; to derive Magen from mögen, root mag, ‘to be able, have strength’ (as if the stomach were the ‘nourishing, strength giving part’), is not to be commended. The names of parts of the body need not, however, be traced back to a verbal root; comp. Herz, Niere, and Leber.

mager, adj., ‘lean, lank, meagre,’ from the equiv. MidHG. mager, OHG. magar, adj.; corresponding to MidLG. and Du. mager, AS. mœger, OIc. magr, adj., ‘lean’; a common Teut. word, wanting only in Goth. Considering the wide and early diffusion of the term, its similarity to Lat. macer (Ital. magro, Fr. maigre) is remarkable. While MidE. mę̂gre, E. meagre, are certainly of Rom. origin (comp. Fr. maigre), Teut. mager, like Lat. macer, ‘lean,’ and Gr. μακεδνός, ‘tall,’ μᾶκρός, ‘long,’ may be derived from an Aryan root mā̆k, ‘long, thin’; Lith. máżus, ‘little,’ may, like OHG. magar, point to a common root, magh. Yet the supposition that the Teut. cognates are derived from Low Lat. and Ital. magro is more probable; note kurz, from Lat. curtus.

Mahd, f., ‘mowing, swath,’ from MidHG. mât (gen. mâdes), n. (also f.), ‘mowing, what has been mown, hay, meadow,’ OHG. mâd, n.; hence OHG. mâdâri, MidHG. mâdœre, mœder, ModHG. Mähder, ‘mower’; AS. mœ̂þ, n., ‘mowing, what has been mown, hay,’ E. math in aftermath and lattermath. HG. Mahd, and E. math, Goth. *mêþ (gen. *mêþis), are properly verbal abstracts of the root mê, ‘to mow,’ just as the cognate Gr. ἄμητος, ‘harvest,’ is derived from ἁμάω, ‘I mow’; comp. also ἀμητός, ‘crop, the field when reaped.’ See Grummet, Matte, and Omet. —

mähen, vb., ‘to mow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. mœjen, OHG. mâen; corresponding to Du. maaijen, AS. mâwan (pret. meów), E. to mow. A common West Teut. root mê, ‘to mow,’ has already been deduced from the previous word; it appears in Gr. with a vowel prefixed in ἄ-μη-τος, ‘harvest,’ and ἀ-μάω, ‘to mow’; the t in the Lat. root mêt, ‘to mow, harvest,’ which orig. belonged

to the pres. stem only, may have been regarded as a part of the root; to this is allied OIr. meithel, ‘a party of reapers.’

Mahl (1.), n., obsolete except in compounds; Mahlschatz, m., ‘dowry,’ from MidHG. mahelschaz, m., ‘dowry,’ and espec. ‘engagement ring’; Mahlstatt, ‘place of public assembly or of execution,’ MidHG. mahelstat, f., ‘court of justice, place of execution,’ OHG. mahalstat, f., ‘court of justice.’ See Gemahl.

Mahl (2.), n., ‘meal, repast,’ from MidHG. mâl, n., ‘banquet, meal-time’; OHG. *mâl, n., not recorded in this sense; allied to MidE. mœ̂l, E. meal (wanting in AS.). Probably identical in orig. with the cognates discussed under mal (2), so that ‘mealtime,’ as ‘time’ par excellence, may have led to the meanings ‘banquet, repast.’ OIc. mál, n., also signifies, among other things, ‘meal-time.’

mahlen, vb., ‘to grind,’ from the equiv. MidHG. maln, OHG. malan; in the latter form the common Teut. word for ‘to grind’ (but wanting in E. even in AS.); comp. OSax. malan, Du. malen, OIc. mala, Goth. malan, ‘to grind.’ The root mal (mol, ml), ‘to grind,’ is common to the West Aryan languages, and this fact indicates the very early existence of grinding; comp. Lat. molo, Gr. μύλλω (to which μύλη, μύλος, μυλῖται are allied), OSlov. melją mlĕti), Lith. máḷù (málti), OIr. melim, ‘I grind.’ This community of terms in the West Aryan languages does not necessarily point to a primit. period when the tribes speaking the languages mentioned formed one body. It is more probable that the use of mills was learnt by one tribe from another. The influence of a foreign civilisation (comp. Hanf) is also quite conceivable. Comp. malmen, Malter, Maulwurf, Mehl, Mühle, and Müller.

mählich, adv., see allmählich.

Mähne, f., ‘mane,’ earlier ModHG. also Mane (the mutation, which also occurs in Suab. and Bav., seems to be due to the plur.), from the equiv. MidHG. mane, man, f. and m., OHG. mana, f.; comp. Du. maan, AS. manu, E. mane, OIc. mǫn, f., ‘mane’ (to this is allied the derivative OIc. makke, Swed. and Dan. manke, ‘upper part of the neck of a horse’). The common Teut. manô, f., ‘mane’ (Goth. *mana, f., is by chance not recorded), shows a later development of meaning, for the earlier sense of the word was certainly