Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Pokorny Etymon: medhi-, medhi̯o-   'middle'

Semantic Field(s): Middle

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
English  
Old English: mǣce, mēce n.masc sword, blade ASD/GED
middan prep amid W7
middan-eard n.masc world, lit. middle-earth LRC
midde adj mid W7
middel adj middle W7
midde-weard adv middling, lit. mid-ward LRC
onmiddan prep amid W7
Middle English: amidde prep amid MEV
amiddes prep/adv amidst; in the midst MEV
mediate adj mediate W7
mene adj mean W7
mid adj/prep mid W7
middel adj middle W7
middes, amidde(s) prep amid(st) W7
middest n midst W7
moite n moiety W7
English: amid(st) prep (from) among, in(to) the middle of AHD/W7
intermediate adj between extremes, re: middle place/degree AHD/W7
mean adj middling, moderate, intermediate AHD/W7
mean n mid-point, something intervening/intermediate AHD/W7
medal n metal disk bearing religious emblem/picture AHD/W7
Mede prop.n Bree calendar's July in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
medial adj re: middle AHD
median adj medial, being in middle/intermediate position AHD/W7
mediastinum n irregular median septum of thoracic cavity AHD/W7
mediate adj occupying middle position AHD/W7
mediate vb to interpose between parties to reconcile them AHD/W7
mediterranean n nearly/completely surrounded by dry land AHD
medium n something in middle position AHD/W7
mezzaluna n crescent-shaped knife with 2 handles AHD
mezzanine n low-ceiling story of building between main stories AHD/W7
mezzotint n manner of engraving steel/copper AHD/W7
mid adj being in middle/midst AHD/W7
middle adj central, medial, equally distant from extremes AHD/W7
Middle-earth prop.n world setting in Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings LRC
Midgard prop.n world inhabited by humans (Germanic mythology) LRC
midst n interior, middle, central part/point AHD/W7
milieu n setting, environment AHD/W7
mizzen n fore-and-aft sail mounted on mizzenmast AHD
mizzenmast n sailing ship's 3rd mast aft AHD
moiety n half, either of two equal parts AHD/W7
mullion n vertical member dividing window/opening AHD
West Germanic  
Old Frisian: middel adj middle ASD
Old Saxon: māki n.masc sword GED
middil-gard adj world, lit. middle-earth ASD
Old High German: mitti(l) adj middle ASD/W7
German: Mitte n.fem middle, center LRC
North Germanic  
Runic: makija n sword GED
Old Norse: mið-garðr n.masc world, Midgard, lit. middle-yard, middle-earth W7
miðr adj middle LRC
Old Icelandic: mækir n.masc sword GED
Icelandic: meðal- adj middle ASD
Danish: medens conj while TLL
mellem prep amid, between TLL
Swedish: medan conj while TLL
mellan prep amid, between TLL
East Germanic  
Gothic: meki n.acc.sg short sword GED
midjis adj middle LRC
midjun-gards n.str.masc world, Midgard, lit. middle-yard, middle-earth LRC
Crimean Gothic: mycha n sword CGo
Italic  
Latin: intermedius adj placed in between W7
medianus adj median W7
mediastinus n.masc drudge W7
medius, media, medium adj (in the) middle W7
Vulgar Latin: medalis adj half W7
Late Latin: medialis adj of the middle W7
medietas, medietatis n.fem middle, half W7
Medieval Latin: intermediatus vb.ptc placed in between, in the middle W7
mediatus vb.ptc intermediate W7
mediō, mediāre, mediāvī, mediātus vb to be intermediate W7
New Latin: mediastinum n.neut irregular septum of thoracic cavity W7
Old French: mi adj middle, half W7
milieu n.masc midst W7
Middle French: médaille n.fem medal W7
meien adj mean W7
moitié n.fem moiety W7
French: mezzanine n.fem mezzanine W7
milieu n.masc center, (particular) social environment W7
Old Italian: medaglia n.fem medal, coin worth 1/2 denarius W7
Italian: mèzza n.fem half-hour W7
mezzanino n.masc mezzanine floor W7
mezzano adj middle W7
mezzatinta n.fem half-tint, off-shade W7
mèzzo n.masc half, middle, medium W7
Hellenic  
Greek: mesos adj middle, central W7
Armenian  
Classical Armenian: mēǰ n midst, middle LRC

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
acc=accusative (case)
adj=adjective
adv=adverb(ial)
conj=conjunction
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
neut=neuter (gender)
prep=preposition
prop=proper
ptc=participle
sg=singular (number)
str=strong (inflection)
vb=verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code Citation
AHD=Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD=Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CGo=MacDonald Stearns, Jr: Crimean Gothic (1978)
GED=Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV=J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
TLL=Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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