Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/263

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derivative c for sc; and also with Gr. μυῖα, ‘horse-fly,’ for μύσια, and μύαξ (for μύσαξ), ‘sea-mussel.’ The meaning ‘swamp’ is still current in Suab. and Bav.; comp. Dachauer Moos.

Mops, m., ModHG. only, from the equiv. LG. mops, Du. mops and mop, ‘pug-dog.’ Akin to a Teut. root mup, ‘to distort the face, make grimaces’; comp. late MidHG. muff, mupf, m., ‘wry mouth,’ Du. mopper, ‘to wear a peevish look,’ E. to mop, ‘to gibber,’ MidE. moppe, ‘fool.’ ModHG. Mops, in the sense of ‘stupid fellow, may be explained as indicated by the MidE. word without reference to the name of the Lat. author Mopsus.

Moraſt, m., ‘morass,’ ModHG. only from LG. moras; comp. Du. moras, moeras, E. morass, MidE. mareis. The cognates, as is indicated by the non-Teut. accent, are borrowed from Rom.; comp. Ital. marese, Fr. marais, MidLat. maragium, ‘morass, swamp.’ The o of the Teut. words is due to their being connected with Moor. Unknown to Suab. and Bav.

Morchel, f., from the equiv. MidHG. morchel, morhel, late OHG. morhila, f., ‘moril’ (Du. morille,. ‘moril’); the apparent derivation from OG. morha-, ‘carrot’ (see Möhre), is explained under Wurzel. The Suab. and Bav. variants maurache, môraåχ, môroχ, present a difticulty.

Mord, m., ‘murder,’ from MidHG. mort (-des), m. and n., OHG. mord, n.; comp. OSax. morth, Du. moord, AS. and OIc. morð, ‘murder,’ with the common meaning ‘intentional, secret death-blow.’ Goth. *maurþ, n., is wanting; it is based on pre-Teut. mṛto-m, n., and orig. meant ‘death’ simply, as the root mor, ‘to die,’ widely diffused through all the Aryan languages, indicates. Comp. the Sans. root mṛ, ‘to die,’ mṛtá-m, n., ‘death,’ amṛta-m, ‘immortality,’ mṛtas, ‘dead,’ márta-s, ‘mortal,’ amṛta-s, ‘immortal,’ mṛtyús, ‘death’; Lat. mori, ‘to die,’ mortuus, ‘dead,’ mors (Sans. mṛti-s), ‘death’; OSlov. mrĕti, ‘to die,’ morŭ-sŭ-mrŭtĭ, ‘death,’ mrŭtvŭ (Lat. mortuus), ‘dead’; Lith. mìrti, ‘to die,’ mirtìs, ‘death,’ In Gr. as well as in OTeut. the strong root mṛ is wanting, but its derivatives βροτός, ‘mortal’ (for *μρο-τό-ς), ἀμβροτός, ‘immortal,’ have been preserved; OIr. marb, ‘dead.’ In Teut. the root has assumed the sense of ‘intentional, secret killing,’ the older meaning ‘to die, death,’ supplanted by sterben and Tod, having be-

come obsolete; MidHG. mort, ‘dead,’ was borrowed from Fr. mort. Comp. further Goth. maúrþr, n. (in Sans. *mṛtra-m), AS. morþor, n., equiv. to E. murder; also OHG. murdiren, Goth. maurþrjan, ‘to murder’; hence Fr. meurtre, MidLat. mordrum, ‘murderous deed.’

Morgen (1.), m., ‘morning,’ from the equiv. MidHG. morgen, OHG. morgen, m.; comp. OSax. morgan, Du. morgen, AS. morgen, mergen, m., E. morning (with the suffix -ing as in evening), OIc. morgunn and myrgenn, Goth. maurgins, m.; the common Teut. term for the first half of the day, commencing with the dawn. It does not obtain, however, in the non-Teut. languages, being, like Tag and Abend (Goth. undaurns, ‘midday’), specifically Teut. The pre-Teut. mṛkeno- or mṛgheno- is still obscure; some etymologists connect it with Goth. maúrgjan, ‘to shorten,’ but this gives no definite sense for Morgen. With greater probability may OSlov. mrŭknąti, ‘to grow dark,’ mrakŭ, ‘darkness,’ be allied to the Teut. cognates, so that Morgen might be regarded as ‘dawn’; comp. the development of meaning in Dämmerung. —

morgen, in the sense of ‘to-morrow,’ is from MidHG. morgen, OHG. morgane, prop. a dat. sing., ‘in the morning, especially of the following day, (on) the next day’; similarly Fr. demain, lendemain, from Lat. mane. This use of morgen is unknown to Goth. (comp. gestern); Scand. has á morgun, E. to-morrow; MidE. tô morwe, dat., from morge(n), Du. morgen, ‘to-morrow.’ Abend is similarly used of the preceding day (see also Sonnabend). —

Morgen, ‘east,’ is similar to the meaning of Lat. mane in the Rom. languages. Comp. the origin of Osten.

Morgen (2.). m., from the equiv. MidHG. morgen, OHG. morgan, m., ‘acre’ (or nearly so); usually identified with Morgen (1), ‘morning's work for a team, the space ploughed by a team in a morning’; similarly MidLat. dies, ‘tantum terræ quantum quis per diem uno aratro arare potest.’ So too MidLat. diurnalis, ‘a square measure.’

morſch, adj., ‘decaying, rotten,’ a MidG. and LG. word with the variant mors; a recent derivative of the root murs. See Mörser.

Mörſer, m., ‘mortar (bowl),’ from the equiv. MidHG. morsœre, OHG. morsâri, m.;. allied to Suab., Alem., and Hess.