An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Ameise

by Friedrich Kluge

Ameise, f., from the equiv. MidHG. ā̆meiȥe (emeze, whence ModHG. Emse), OHG. ā̆meiȥȥa, f., ‘ant'; note ModHG. dial. ametze, OHG. ā̆meitza. It corresponds to AS. œmette, E. emmet, ant. The derivation can scarcely be ascertained with certainty, as the relations of the vowels of the accented syllable are not clear; the OHG. form ămeiȥȥa evidently indicates a connection with emsig; Ameise, lit. ‘the diligent (insect).’ On the other hand, OHG. â-meizza and AS. œ-mette point to a root mait, ‘to cut, gnaw' (see under Meißel), so that it would signify ‘gnawing insect’ (MidHG. and OHG. â- means ‘off, to pieces'). Du. and LG. mier, ‘ant,’ is more widely diffused than Ameise, CrimGoth. miera (Goth. *miuzjô), AS. mŷra, E. mire, Sw. mŷra, ‘ant’; orig. ‘that which lives in the moss, the moss insect,’ allied to Teut. meuso- (see Mees). A word formed from the Lat. formica is probably at the base of Swiss wurmeisle.