Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/256

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obscure origin. The derivation from the root mal, ‘to grind,’ to which Mehl is allied, does not give a suitable sense. Gr. βλίτον (for *μλίτον), ‘orache,’ should rather be compared with the G. word.

melden, vb., ‘to mention, notify, announce,’ from MidHG. mëlden, ‘to inform against, betray, announce, show, name’; comp. OHG. mëldôn, OSax. mëldôn, AS. mëldian, ‘to inform against, betray’; a West Teut. vb. simply, meaning ‘to betray,’ to which other senses have been given in MidHG. Goth. *milþôn points to a Teut. root *melþ, ‘to betray’; an equiv. pre-Teut. *melt has not yet been authenticated.

melk, adj., ‘giving milk, milch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. mële, mëlch, OHG. mëlch (equiv. to AS. mëlc), adj.; comp. OIc. mjolkr, milkr, MidE. milche, E. milch, adj. (AS. *mylče is wanting); a verbal adj. from melken.

melken, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. mëlken, mëlchen, OHG. mëlchan, ‘to milk’; comp. Du. melken, AS. mëlcan (wanting in E., in which to milk is used); Ic. mjalta, and also mjalter, ‘milking,’ mjaltr, ‘milch,’ but also from mjolk, ‘milk,’ mjolka, ‘to milk,’ and mjolkr, ‘milch’; Goth. *milkan is by chance not recorded. The Teut. root melk is derived from the Aryan melg, which occurs with the same meaning in the West Aryan languages; comp. Lat. mulgere, Gr. ἀμέλγει, OSlov. mlěsti (pres. mlŭzą), Lith. mìlsti (pres. mélžu). In the East Aryan languages the corresponding root appears with an older signification, ‘to wipe or rub off’ (comp. Sans. mârj, mṛj, Zend marez). Melken is one of the characteristic words which point to a closer connection between the West Aryans compared with the East Aryans; comp. Hanf and mahlen. See also Milch, Molke, and melk.

Memme, f., ‘poltroon,’ ModHG. only. A derivative of late MidHG. mamme, memme, f., ‘woman's breast’; lit. ‘effeminate being, effeminate man.’

Menge, f., ‘crowd, multitude, mass,’ from MidHG. męnege, OHG. męnigî, managî, f., ‘multiplicity, great number, crowd’; an abstract from OHG. manag, ‘much’; Goth. managei, f., AS. męnigo, ‘multiplicity.’ Originally it was not connected with the following word, but in modern times it may be dimly thought to be akin to it.

mengen, vb., ‘to mingle, mix, blend,’

from MidHG. męngen, ‘to mix, mingle,’ f., introduced from MidG. and LG.; in OHG., męngan occurs once as a Franc. word (in Isidore); OSax. męngian, Du. mengen, AS. męngan, MidE. mengen, ‘to mix’ (whence E. to mingle); Goth. *maggjan is wanting. Allied to OSax. gimang, AS. gemong, ‘mingling, commixtio, company, troop’; AS. on gemǫng, E. among, so too OSax. an gimange. From these may be deduced a West Teut. root mang, ‘to mix,’ which, however, is unknown to Suab. and Bav. It has been connected with hardly sufficient reason, with the root mik, ‘to mix’ (see mischen), which appears in most of the Aryan languages; it is more probably allied to Lith. mìnkau, mìnkyti, ‘to knead,’ mìnklas, ‘dough’ (OSlov. mękŭkŭ, ‘soft,’ mąka, ‘meal’). In that case mengen would be traced to a pre-Teut. root meng, ‘to knead.’

Mennig, n., ‘vermilion,’ from the equiv. MidHG. mênig, minig, late OHG. minig, n,; based on Lat. minium, ‘vermilion.’

Mensch, m. and n., from the equiv. MidHG. męnsch, męnsche, m. and n., ‘man, person, fellow,’ OHG. męnnisco, mannisco, m.; comp. OSax. męnnisco, Du. mensch, ‘person.’ Simply a West Teut. form, prop. an adj. used as a subst., hence ‘humanus’ for ‘homo.’ The adj. on which it is based is derived with the suffix iska (HG. isch) from mann-, ‘homo’; Goth. mannisks, OIc. mennskr, AS., OSax., and OHG. męnnisc, ‘humanus, human’ (comp. further AS. męnnesc, ‘humanity’); comp. manušýa as an adj. ‘human,’ and as masc. subst. ‘man,’ with Sans. mánu, mánus-, ‘man’ (see further under Mann). — Mensch in the neut. gender appears even in MidHG., and was used till the 17th cent. without any contemptuous meaning; the neut. was generally applied to female servants, but that signification became obsolete in the last cent., and a moral sense was attached to the word.

Mergel, m., ‘marl,’ from the equiv. MidHG. męrgel, OHG. męrgil, m.; from MidLat. margila, with the primary form marga, which is recorded by Pliny as a Kelt. word; comp. Bret. marg, W. marl. From the same source the equiv. Rom. words are derived — Fr. marne (from OFr. marle), Ital. and Span. marga.

mergeln, vb., ‘to emaciate, enervate,’ ModHG. only; derived with the com-