Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/257

---

pounds ab- and aus-mergeln from Mark (3), MidHG. marc, marges.

merken, vb., ‘to mark, note, observe,’ from MidHG. and OHG. męrken, ‘to give heed to, perceive, understand, note’; a derivative of Marke (Goth. *markjan); hence OFr. merchier, ‘to designate.’

meschugge, adj., ‘crazy,’ from the equiv. Hebr. meschuggâ.

Messe, f., ‘mass, fair,’ from MidHG. mësse, misse, f., ‘mass, church festival, fair’ OHG. mëssa, missa, f. So too the word on which it is based, MidLat. missa, signifies not only ‘incruentum christianorum sacrificium,’ but also ‘feast of a saint’ (“quod in eo Missa sollemnis peragitur”). The latter sense led to MidLat. missa, MidHG. mësse, ‘fair,’ because this “was wont to be held on account of the great concourse of people” on saints' days (comp. Fr. foire, ‘fair,’ lit. ‘holiday,’ under Feier). MidLat. missa, “as is well known, originated in missa est, scil. concio, the words spoken by the deacon when dismissing the congregation which did not partake of the sacrament”; from this the corresponding Rom. cognates, Ital. messa and Fr. messe, are derived. The vowel in AS. mœsse, f. (Northumbr. messe), E. mass, is abnormal; the latter also signifies feast in Christmas and Lammas (see Laib). Comp. Feier, Mette, Nonne, Opfer, and Vesper.

messen, vb., ‘to measure, survey,’ from MidHG. mëȥȥen, OHG. mëȥȥan, ‘to measure, mete out, distribute, consider, test’; comp. OSax. mëtan, Du. meten, ‘to measure,’ AS. mëtan, ‘to measure, value, deem,’ Goth. mitan, ‘to measure’; also allied to Goth. mitôn, ‘to ponder, reflect on’; OHG. mëȥȥôn, ‘to moderate.’ The Teut. stem mē̆t, ‘to measure, estimate, ponder’ (comp. Maß), is based on pre-Teut. mē̆d, and cannot, because of the non-permutation, be connected with Lat. metiri; comp. Lat. modus, Gr. μέδομαι μήδομαι, ‘to consider, estimate,’ μέδων, ‘adviser,’ μέδιμνος, ‘medimnus’ (about 12 galls.), Lat. modius, Goth. mitaþs, ‘corn measure.’ See Metze (2).

Messer, n., from the equiv. MidHG. męȥȥer, ‘knife.’ The word has undergone strange transformations; it is an abbreviation of męȥȥeres, OHG. męȥȥiras, męȥȥirahs, n., the etymology of which had grown obscure; the variants maȥ-sahs, męȥȥi-sahs, show, however, that męȥȥirahs is a compound meaning ‘food-sword.’ With regard to Goth. mats, n., OHG. maȥ, n., AS. męte,

m., E. meat, comp. Mus and Mettwurst. OHG. sahs, AS. seax, n., ‘sword, knife,’ whence the name Saxons, is usually connected with Lat. saxum, because knives were orig. made of stone. The OHG. compound męȥȥi-rahs shows the change of medial s (z) to r. Goth. *matisahs is also indicated by OSax. męzas for *mętsahs, Du. and LG. mes, AS. męte-seax, ‘food-knife, dagger.’

Messing, n., from the equiv. MidHG. męssinc (gen. -ges), m., ‘brass, latten’; a derivative of Masse, OHG. massa (from Lat. massa?), ‘sow-metal’; AS. mœstling (with a suffix), ‘brass’ (whence E. maslin?), is also derived from the same source; see too OIc. messing, f., ‘brass.’ Contrary to this prevalent opinion, we have to observe that the derivative is more widely diffused than the primit. word, and it is inconceivable that the word was derived independently in the various languages; hence these cognates cannot be associated with Lat. massa unless a derived word can be adduced as the base of the Teut. words.

messingisch, adj., ‘hybrid, composed of HG. and LG. elements in the same word’; the term was first recorded in the last cent., but it originated probably in the 16th or 17th cent., when HG. and LG. were struggling for the mastery.

Mesner, m., from the equiv. MidHG. męsnœre, męssenœre, m., ‘sexton, sacristan’ (the latter connected with Messe), from late OHG. męsinâri (not messinâri), m., based on MidLat. *masinarius for mansionarius, ‘custos et conservatoraedis sacrae, aedituus, ostarius’; MidLat. mansionarius was also an official in the court of the Frankish kings (MidLat. mansio, ‘house,’ equiv. to Fr. maison). Comp. Küster and Sigrist.

Met, m., ‘mead,’ from MidHG. mët, mëte, OHG. mëtu, mitu, m., ‘mead’; comp. AS. meodo, E. mead, OIc. mjǫðr; Goth. *midus, m., ‘mead,’ is by chance not recorded. A common Teut. and also common Aryan word; Aryan *medhu, Sans. mádhu, n., ‘sweetness, honey, sweet drink, Gr. μέθυ, ‘wine’ (to which μεθύω, ‘to be drunk, and μέθη, ‘drunkenness’), OSlov. medŭ, ‘honey, wine,’ Lith. midùs, ‘mead,’ medùs, ‘honey,’ Ir. mid. To these is allied OInd. mádhu, ‘sweet, lovely,’ hence the various meanings of medhu, ‘mead, honey, wine,’ lit. ‘that which is sweet,’ perhaps (according to Gr. μεθύω,) ‘intoxicating liquid.’ Comp. süß.