Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/253

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from MidHG. mûs, f., ‘muscles especially of the upper part of the arm’; OHG. mûs, AS. mûs, Du. muis, have the same sense; prop. identical with Maus (1). In other cases too names of animals are applied to parts of the body. Comp. Gr. μῦς, ‘muscle,’ μυών, ‘cluster of muscles,’ Lat. mus-culus, ‘muscle,’ lit. ‘little mouse,’ OSlov. myšĭca, ‘arm,’ Sans. muš-ka, ‘testicle, pudenda muliebria,’ lit. ‘little mouse.’

mauscheln, vb., ‘to act like a cheat,’ lit. ‘mosaizare’; allied to Mausche, equiv. to Hebr. Môschâh, ‘Moses.’

Mause, Mauser; f., ‘moulting, casting the skin, moulting season,’ from MidHG. mûȥe, f. (in compounds mûȥer). ‘mewing, moulting’; OHG. *mûȥȥa, f., ‘moulting,’ is not recorded; allied to OHG. mûȥȥôn, MidHG. mûȥen, ‘to exchange for,’ MidHG. also espec. ‘to moult, cast the skin.’ Borrowed before the OHG. period (contemporaneously with Käfig, Pfau, and Pips) from Lat. mûtâre, hence the permutation of t to ȥ (MidLat. mûta, ‘moulting’); sz has been preserved in Bav. maußen. From the same source are derived AS. bimûtian, ‘to change, exchange,’ MidE. moutin, E. to moult, as well as Fr. muer, ‘to moult,’ mue, ‘moulting.’

mausen, vb., ‘to catch mice, pilfer,’ from MidHG. musen, ‘to creep, deceive’; a derivative of MidHG. mûs, equiv. to Maus.

mausig, adj., ‘pert, saucy,’ ModHG. only (sich, mausig machen, ‘to bray, bluster’), allied to Mauser, ‘moulting,’ lit. ‘one that moults, mews, dresses smartly in order to make himself conspicuous.’

Maut, f., ‘toll, duty,’ a Bav. word, from MidHG. mûte, f., OHG. mûta, f., ‘toll.’ The current derivation from MidLat. mûta is not satisfactory, since the latter word is not recorded until late (first half of the 9th cent.), and that as a G. word, nullum teloneum neque quod lingua theodisca Muta vocatur; ann. 837. Goth. môta, f., ‘toll,’ is the earliest recorded term. Yet OHG. mûta and Goth. môta (also OIc. and OSwed. múta, ‘fee, gratuity, bribe’) are not equiv., since Goth. môta (AS. môt) leads to OHG. *muoȥa, and OHG. mûta to Goth. *mûda. Probably the OBav. word was borrowed about the 8th cent., after the HG. permutation of consonants, from a dial. closely allied to the Goth. (Goth. ô tended towards û); to this is also allied OSlov. myto, ‘toll.’ An earlier loan-word is also recorded in Mid

HG. muoȥe, ‘toll, tax,’ which points to OHG. *muoȥa, and which has been preserved in Bav. Mueß, ‘miller’s fee.’ Yet the word may have been primit. allied to the Goth. The term Zoll, which is cognate in meaning, is also of obscure origin.

meckern, vb., ‘to bleat,’ ModHG. only; MidHG. has an equiv. word by a different derivation from the same stem, mëchzen, ‘to bleat,’ allied to MidHG. mëcke, m., ‘he-goat,’ as a nickname (Goth. *m(illegible text)gga, ‘he-goat,’ is wanting). Comp. the pre-Teut. root mak in Gr. μηκάομας, ‘to bleat.’

Meer, n., ‘ocean, sea,’ from MidHG. męr, n., OHG. męri, earlier mari, m. and n., ‘ocean’; comp. OSax. męri, f., Du. meer, n., AS. męre, m., E. mere (to which merman, mermaid, are allied), OIc. marr, m., Goth. marei, f. (and *mar, n., preserved in the compound mari-saivs, ‘ocean’). The common Teut. word for ‘ocean,’ prim. Teut. mari, n. (or mori, recorded by Pliny as a Cimbrian form), which is partly common to the West Aryan tribes (so too Lat. lacus, OIr. loch, equiv. to OLG. lagu, ‘ocean’); Lat. mare, n., OSlov. morjc, n., ‘ocean,’ Lith. máres, ‘Kurisches Haff,’ OIr. muir (from mori), ‘ocean’; to these are allied Gr. Αμφίμαρος, ‘son of Poseidon,’ as well as ἀμάρα, f., ‘trench, conduit’ (comp. OFris. mar, ‘trench, pond’)?. These cognates are usually connected with the Aryan root mar, ‘to die’ (comp. Mord, Lat. morior), so that the ocean was named in “contrast to the living vegetation” of the mainland, just as in Ind. also marus, ‘desert,’ is referred to the root mar, ‘to die’; this, however, is no more probable than the derivation of Mann from the root men, ‘to think.’ Comp. Marsch and Moor.

Meerrettig, m., ‘horse-radish,’ allied to Meer, like Herzog to Heer, vierte (ĭ) to vier (ī), &c.; corresponding to MidHG. męrręttich, OHG. męri-ratich, m., ‘radish that has come from over the sea, transpontine radish.’ The E. term horse-radish, Meerrettig, is curious, and suggests the idea that Meer- in this case is equiv. to Mähre. Du. mierikwortel, Westph. mirrek, Hess. Merchhorn, seem to be of the same origin.

Mehl, n., ‘meal, flour, dust,’ from MidHG. mël (gen. mëlawes), n., OHG. mëlo (gen. mëlawes), n.; corresponding to OSax. mël, Du. meel, AS. mëlu (gen. mëlwes), n., E. meal, OIc. mjǫl (gen. plur. mjǫlva), ‘meal’; the common Teut. word for ‘meal’; Goth. *milwa (gen. *milwis) is