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) |
