Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/254

Meh by chance not recorded. It is a specifically derivative of the root mal, ‘to grind,’ of which the form mel is authenticated by  and ; see. While the  is common to West Aryan, the form of the word, from the root mel, is peculiar to ; it may also be remarked that the  is found in , though not the corresponding. There is also a derivative from the same root in ;  blawd,  bleud (from mlât).   ,, ‘mildew, blight,’ corrupted from the  miltou, ,  mili-tou, ;   meledeáw (miledeáw),  mildew. The opinions as to the origin of the first component are various. The most probable derivation is that from miliþ,, ‘honey’ (  milska, , ‘sweet drink’), to which in West  a  mili ( μέλι, stem μέλιτ-,  mel) is possibly akin; hence , ‘honeydew’?. It is less probable that the word was borrowed from or was allied to the   μίλτος, so that  may have been an explanatory addition (  and ). It is also possible that mili-,  mele-, mile-, is connected with, and a special formation from the root mel, ‘to grind.’ In that case the  change of  into  is warranted by etymology;  is defined as ‘a greyish-white, meal-like coating on plants in summer.’  , and, ‘more,’ from  mêr;  of ; also, doubly compared, mêrer, mē̆rre, ‘greater or larger’ (of space, number, and value); further  mêre, mêr, mê, ‘plus’;  mêr, undeclin. and, ‘more, plus, magis, amplius,’  mêro, ‘major, greater’ (also with the addition of the  suffix mêrôro, mêriro, ‘major’). mêro originated in maizo, maiza, the -iza- of which is the   suffix (,  batiza; ,  hauhiza);   mâ,  and  , ‘more,’  mâra,  more. The corresponding is. maiza, for *majiza, belongs, with the  maists (see ), to the   mê-rs, ‘projecting,’ discussed under. ,, ‘greater, several,’ from mêrer,. See. ,, ‘to avoid, shun, refrain,’ from  mîden, ‘to dispense with, suffer want, eschew, forsake, refrain from’;  mîdan, ‘to hide oneself from, keep secret, eschew, refrain from’;   mîthan,  mîðan, ‘to hide, conceal, refrain from.’ The  sense of the cognates seems to be ‘to hide, remain far from,’ but definitely related terms are wanting;  amitto,  pa-metù, ‘to thrown away,’ are not connected. For other words similar in sound see under and.  ,, ‘head-servant on an estate, land-steward, farmer,’ from meier, meiger, ,  meior, meier, ; it corresponds to the early  major domus, which  denoted ‘the steward of the household servants’; hence  and  meier, ‘steward of an estate, manager or lessee of an estate.’ From  major,  maire is also derived.   , (rare in  and ), ‘mile’ (about five  miles), from the   mîle,  mîla, mîlla (for mîlja), ; corresponding to  mijl,  mîl,  mile,  míla,, ‘mile’; from  mîlia (passuum), ‘thousand paces,’ whence also  miglia,  mille. It denotes ‘a measure of a thousand paces ( mille passuum).’ The more frequent  mîlia was adopted in  and, chiefly as a  , without the addition of passuum ( formed the  miglio, ‘mile,’ from the  miglia). The word was borrowed in the first contemporaneously with  ( lega,  lieue, ‘league,’ a later word of  origin, was never adopted in ).   ,, ‘charcoal-kiln,’ from late meiler, mîler, , ‘stack of wood for making charcoal’; the î of the   form is attested by  and. The word cannot be derived from (Czech milíř,  mieleřz, ‘charcoal kiln,’ are themselves of  origin). Since it may have denoted a definite number of objects (  meiler, ‘a definite number of bars in a stack of pig-iron’), we might connect it with  mîliarium, ‘thousand’ (see the similar case of ).  ,, ‘my,’ from  and  mîn; in the same form it is the common    from the stem me- of the   (, , thus even in  and ). This stem me- (in mi-s, ‘to me,’ mi-k, ‘me,’ ) is