Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/251

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late OHG. period (by Notker), as massa, f., from Lat. massa.

Mast (1.), m. (probably quite unknown to Suab. and Bav.), ‘mast,’ from MidHG. and OHG. mast, m., ‘pole, flagstaff, spear-shaft,’ espec. ‘ship's mast, tree fit for a mast’; comp. LG. and Du. mast, AS. mœst, m. E. mast, OIc. mastr, ‘mast.’ Goth. *masta-, m., ‘mast, pole,’ is wanting. According to the permutation of consonants, the latter is based on pre-Teut. mazdo- (comp. Ast, Gerste, and Nest); did Lat. mâlus for *mâdus originate in this? (also Ir. matan, ‘club,’ maite, ‘stick’?). Similarly Fisch (piscis) and Meer (mare) are primit. allied.

Mast (2), ‘mast (for fattening),’ from MidHG. and MidLG. mast, m., f., and n., ‘food, acorns, fattening,’ OHG. mast; comp. AS. mœst, f., E. mast. Goth. *masta is derived, according to the permutation of consonants, from a primit. form mazdo-, to which Sans. mêdas, n., ‘fat,’ mêdáy, ‘to fatten,’ also points. The ModHG. verbal noun mästen comes from MidHG. and OHG. męsten; Du. mesten, AS. mœstan, ‘to fatten’; to this is allied the ModHG. adj. partic. mast, OHG. mast, AS. gemœst, ‘fat, fattened.’ In MidHG. gemast, gemęstet.

Maß, n., ‘measure, standard, proportion,’ from MidHG. mâȥ, n., ‘measure, manner’; usually in MidHG. mâȥe, f., ‘measure, definite extent of time, space, weight, strength; moderation, temperance,’ OHG. mâȥa, f.; comp. Du. maat, OIc. máte, m., ‘method.’ With the Teut. root mē̆t (in messen), from pre-Teut. mē̆d, Lat. mŏdus, ‘manner,’ is also connected.

Maße, f., ‘measure,’ allied to MidHG. mâȥe; see under Maß, n.

maßen, conj., ‘whereas,’ from the dat. plur. mâȥen (of MidHG. mâȥe), ‘in the method’; orig. used only as an adv., but in ModHG. as a conj. also; allied to Maß.

Maßholder, m., ‘maple,’ from MidHG. maȥalter, maȥolter, m., OHG. maȥȥaltra, maȥȥoltra, f., ‘maple’; the ModHG. form is due to its connection with Holunder (older variant Holder). The OHG. maȥȥoltra is like affoltra, ‘apple tree,’ from apfol, a derivative of a primary Goth. *matls. AS. mapuldr, E. maple tree, with the recorded base mapol, E. maple, has, instead of the HG. dental, an abnormal labial, presupposing Goth. *mapls; so too OIc. mǫpurr, m., ‘maple.’ On account of OHG. maȥȥaltra (ȥȥ for Goth. t), Maßholder

cannot be connected with Maser (s equiv. to Goth. s); nor does it belong to OHG. maȥ, n., ‘food,’ Ahorn as ‘food tree’ being improbable, although maple-juice is used as a medicinal draught. Goth. *matla-, or rather *mapla-, is of obscure origin. Comp. also Ahorn, where an earlier term is given. The ModHG. form Maßeller is, like Maßholder, a corruption of the MidHG. word. With regard to the OHG. suffix -tra, comp. Apfel, Wacholder, and Holunder.

mäßig, adj., ‘moderate,’ from MidHG. mœȥec, OHG. mâzîg, adj., ‘moderate, temperate; of moderate size’; a derivative of Maß, Maße. Comp. Du. matig, ‘moderate.’

Maßlieb, n., ‘daisy, Easter daisy,’ ModHG. only, formed from MidDu. matelief, ModDu. madelief, f., ‘daisy’; of obscure origin; perhaps allied to Matte?.

Matratze, f., ‘mattress,’ from MidHG. matraȥ, materaz, m. and n., ‘couch stuffed with wool, divan’; comp. Du. matras, E. mattress. The HG. form with tz is formed from MidLat. matratium, which, with its corresponding Rom. cognate, Fr. matelas, is usually derived from an Arab source; Arab. matrah, ‘pillow,’ lit. ‘place where something is thrown.’

Matrose, m., ‘sailor,’ ModHG. only, from the equiv. Du. matroos; Dan. and Swed. matros. They are based on Fr. matelot (OFr. matenot), ‘sailor,’ which again is derived through a Norman medium from Scand. mötunautr, ‘messmate’ (the crew was divided into companies, who took their meals together).

matt, adj., ‘checkmated; faint, languid, insipid,’ from MidHG. mat (gen. mattes), adj., ‘checkmated’ (also figuratively), which was adopted from Rom. in the latter half of the 12th cent.; comp. Fr. mat. Ital. matto, MidLat. mattus, whence also Du. mat, E. mate. This characteristic term, which was introduced with chess, is formed from Arab. and Pers. schâh mât, ‘the king is dead.’ See Schach.

Matte (1.), f. (an Alem. word unknown to Suab. and Bav.), from the equiv. MidHG. mate, matte, f., ‘mead, meadow’; OHG. *matta, f., is wanting (but OHG. mato-scrëch, ‘grasshopper,’ is preserved). Goth. *maþwa, *mêdwa, is not recorded; comp. E. meadow, mead, from AS. mœ̂d (gen. mœ̂dwe), ‘meadow,’ MidLG. mâde, OLG. mâtha, mada, OFris. mêth. They seem to be based on a Teut. root mâþ, med, which is connected with Lat. mêto, ‘to