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: 5. mer-, merə- 'to rub, wipe; pack, rob'
Semantic Field(s): to Rub, to Rob; Robber
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | mare, mære, mere | n.fem | goblin, nightmare | ASD/IEW |
| mortere | n.masc | mortar | W7 | |
| Middle English: | marble | n | marble | W7 |
| morsel | n | morsel | W7 | |
| morter | n | mortar | W7 | |
| remorse | n | remorse | W7 | |
| English: | amaranth | n | imaginary flower which never fades | AHD/W7 |
| marasmus | n | progressive emaciation | AHD/W7 | |
| marble | n | metamorphic limestone | W7 | |
| morbid | adj | re: disease | AHD/W7 | |
| mordacious | adj | caustic, sharp/biting in style/manner | AHD/W7 | |
| mordant | adj | incisive, biting/caustic in thought/style/manner | AHD/W7 | |
| mordent | n | musical ornament: quick alternation of principal tone with tone below | AHD/W7 | |
| morsel | n | bite, small piece of food | AHD/W7 | |
| nightmare | n | incubus, evil spirit that oppresses during sleep | AHD/CDC | |
| premorse | adj | bitten off, terminated abruptly/irregularly | AHD/W7 | |
| remorse | n | self-reproach, gnawing distress over guilt | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | marmer | n | marble | TLL |
| German: | Mahr | n.masc | nightmare | IEW |
| Marmor | n | marble | TLL | |
| Nachtmahr | n.masc | nightmare | IEW | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | morna, mornað | vb | to waste away | LRC |
| Danish: | marmor | n | marble | TLL |
| Swedish: | marmor | n | marble | TLL |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | amarantus | n.neut | amaranth | W7 |
| marmor | n | marble | LRC | |
| morbidus | adj | morbid, diseased | W7 | |
| morbus, morbī | n.masc | illness, disease | LRC | |
| mordax, mordacis | adj | biting | W7 | |
| mordeo, mordēre, momordī, morsus | vb | to bite | W7 | |
| morsus, morsūs | n.masc | action of biting | W7 | |
| mortarium | n.masc | mortar | W7 | |
| praemordeo, praemordēre, praemordī, praemorsus | vb | to bite off in front | W7 | |
| remordeo, remordēre, remordī, remorsus | vb | to bite again | W7 | |
| remorsus, remorsūs | n.masc | remorse; act of biting again | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | marasmus | n.masc | marasmus, exhaustion, wasting away | W7 |
| Medieval Latin: | remorsus, remorsūs | n.masc | guilt, remorse | W7 |
| New Latin: | amaranthus | n | amaranth | AHD |
| Portuguese: | mármore | n | marble | LRC |
| Spanish: | mārmol | n | marble | LRC |
| Old French: | marbre | n | marble | W7 |
| mors | n.masc | bite | W7 | |
| morsel | n.masc | morsel | W7 | |
| Middle French: | mordant | adj | harsh, mordant | W7 |
| mordre | vb | to bite | W7 | |
| mortier | n.masc | mortar | W7 | |
| remors | n.masc | remorse | W7 | |
| French: | marbre | n | marble | LRC |
| Italian: | marmo | n | marble | LRC |
| mordènte | adj | mordant | W7 | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Homeric Greek: | μαρμάρεος | adj | flashing, sparkling, glittering | LS |
| μάρμαρος | n.masc | block of stone | LRC | |
| Greek: | amarantos | adj | unfading | W7 |
| marainw | vb | to waste away | W7 | |
| marasmos | n.masc | marasmus, exhaustion | W7 | |
| μαρμάρεος | adj | re: marble | LS | |
| μαρμάρῐνος | adj | re: marble | LS | |
| μάρμᾰρος | n.masc | marble, sparkling crystalline rock | LS | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| 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) |
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| LS | = | Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev. |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
