Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/265

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Muh

( 243 )

Mun

rotten.’ With these are connected the widely-diffused Rom. cognates, which are said to have originated in the G. words: Fr. moufette, ‘firedamp (in mines),’ Ital. muffo, ‘mouldy.’

muhen, vb., ‘to low,’ from late MidHG. mühen, müwen, mügen, ‘to roar’; perhaps allied to Gr. μυκάομαι but more probably a recent onomatopoetic form.

mühen, vb., ‘to trouble, vex,’ from MidHG. müen, müejen, OHG. muoen, wk. vb., ‘to burden, torment, vex’; Du. moeijen, ‘to molest, take pains.’ The verbal adj. müde (Goth. *môþeis) points, like the vb., to an OTeut. and Aryan root mô, of which there are derivatives in the cognate languages, Gr. μῶ-λος, ‘toil, labour, espec. in war,’ μῶ-λυς, ‘exhausted by toil, languid, weak,’ Lat. mô-les, f., ‘exertion, toil, distress,’ &c., môlior, ‘to exert oneself.’ —

Mühe, f., from the equiv. MidHG. müeje, OHG. muoî, f., ‘toil,’ is a verbal abstract of the vb. mühen.

Mühle, f., from the equiv. MidHG. mül (müle), OHG. mulî, mulîn, f., ‘mill’; comp. AS. myln, E. mill, OIc. mylna (derived from E.), f., ‘mill.’ Hardly a Teut. derivative of the root mal, discussed under mahlen; it is rather borrowed from common Rom. môlina, ‘mill’ (for classical Lat. mola); comp. Ital. mulino, Fr. moulin, ‘mill’ (Du. molen, OIr. mulen, and Slav. mŭlinŭ. The formation of an OTeut. *mulînô with a suffix -înô has no parallels in Teut. The genuine Teut. word for ‘mill’ is preserved in Goth. qaírnus, AS. cweorn, OHG. quirn.

Muhme, f. (in UpG. almost obsolete), ‘aunt, female relative, nurse,’ from MidHG. muome, OHG. muoma, f., ‘mother's sister,’ also ‘sister-in-law, female relative.’ That the earlier meaning, ‘mother's sister’ (comp. Base), is the orig. one is shown by the connection of the word with Mutter. OHG. muoma points to Goth. *môna, as is indicated by LG. and MidE. mône, ‘aunt’ (for the change of n to m, see Pilgrim). The word is a pet form of or child's term for AS. môdrie, LG. mödder (equiv. to W. modryb, ‘aunt’), which have the same form as Gr. μητρυΐα (comp. Vetter with Vater); likewise Du. moei from MidDu. moeie, ‘aunt.’ An old synonym occurs in AS. faþu, ‘aunt on the fathers side, father's sister,’ allied to Vater. OIc. móna, ‘mother,’ and the equiv. LG. mœme, Lith. momà, OSlov. mama, seem to be pet terms for

‘mother’; so too Du. moei, ‘aunt’ (OHG. muoia, Gr. μαῖα).

Mühsal, n., from the equiv. MidHG. (rare) müesal, n., ‘trouble, affliction’; formed by means of the oft-recurring suffix -sal, from the MidHG. vb., *müejen, ModHG. mühen.

Mulde, f., ‘trough, tray, pail,’ from MidHG. mulde, f., ‘semicircular hollow vessel, espec. used for cleaning corn, flour-bin, kneading-trough,’ with the equiv. variants MidHG. muolte, muolter, multer, OHG. muoltera. The uo before an l and a consonant points to the fact that the cognates were borrowed; they are usually referred to Lat. mulctra, ‘milk-pail.’

Müller, m., ‘miller,’ from MidHG. mülner, mülnœre, n. (ln is preserved in the surname Müllner, in other cases it is represented by ll), OHG. mûlinâri, m., ‘miller.’ A derivative of Mühle (OHG. mulîna), or borrowed directly from MidLat. molinarius (Ital. mulinaro, Fr. meunier), ‘miller.’ See Mühle.

Mulm, m., ‘loose, dry mould, dust,’ first recorded in ModHG., but probably of an earlier origin; allied to the root mal, ‘to grind,’ lit. ‘to pulverise,’ with which Goth. mulda, ‘dust, earth,’ and E. mould are connected; see under Maulwurf. Comp. also Grand.

Mumme (1.), f., ‘mum (kind of beer),’ ModHG. only, whence Du. nom, E. mum. The word is usually derived from Christian Mumme of Brunswick, who first brewed this beer in the year 1492.

Mumme (2.), f., ‘mask, masked person, disguise,’ first occurs in early ModHG.; comp. Du. mom, ‘mask, mummery,’ E. to mumm, to which is allied OFr. momer, ‘to masquerade,’ ModFr. momerie, ‘mummery’; they are probably connected with an old verbal stem, mum, ‘to buzz, growl.’ Comp. Du. mommelen, ‘to mumble, grumble,’ MidE. mummen, ‘to roar,’ E. to mumble, ModHG. mummeln.

mumuneln, vb., ‘to mumble.’ preceding word.

Mund (1.), m., ‘mouth,’ from MidHG. munt, OHG. mund, m., ‘mouth, outlet,’ OSax. mûð, m., Du. mond, ‘mouth,’ AS. mûð, m., E. mouth, OIc. munnr, muðr, Goth. munþs, m., ‘mouth.’ The common Teut. word munþa-z, m., may be based on pre-Teut. mńto-s and connected with Lat. mentum, ‘chin’ (of men and beasts). In the non-Teut. languages also evidence of the