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ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY
meirean nam magh, agrimony, Ir. meirín na magh (O'B., méirín (Con.):
meirg, rust, Ir. meirg, O. Ir. meirg, meirc, Br. mergl: *mergi-, "red, dark"; Eng. murk, Ag. S. mirce, Norse myrkr (cf. G. dearg and Eng. dark). Ernault compares Gr. μάργος, senseless; and it has been joined to O. W. mergid, debilitas, O. Br. mergidhehan, evanesco, root mar, mer, fade, die.
meirghe, a banner, Ir. meirge, E. Ir. mergge; from the Norse merki, a banner, mark, Eng. mark (Zimmer).
meirle, theft, meirleach, thief, Ir. meirleach, E. Ir. merle, theft, merlech, thief; root mer, mra (as in bradach); see mearachd. Stokes compares Gr. ἀμείρω, deprive; but this is likely ṇ-μερjω, privative ṇ or a and root mer (μέρος, share).
meirneal, a kind of hawk; from the Eng. merlin.
meiteal, metal, Ir. miotal; from the Eng. metal, Lat. metallum.
mèith, fat, sappy, Ir. méith, méath, O. Ir. méth, W. mwydo, soften: *meito-; the e grade of the root seen in *moiti- (in maoth, q.v.), the root being mit, meit, moit (meath, mèith, maoth).
meòg, whey; better than mèag.
meòraich, meditate, remember, Ir. méamhruighim, M. Ir. mebrugud, rehearsing, remembering; from Lat. memoria. See meamhair, also spelt meomhair, with the verb meomhairich = meòraich.
meuchd, mixture (Dial.): *meik-tu, root meik, mik, as in measg.
meud, miad, size, Ir. méid, méad, W. maint, Cor. myns, Br. meñt: *mṇti-, ment, "measure", a nasalised form of the root met, measure, Lat. mensus, having measured, mētior (vb.), Gr. μέτρον, measure; etc. Bez. queries its alliance only with Norse munr, importance. Usually referred to the root mag, meg (*maganti-), great, or to that of minig, q.v.
meur, miar, a finger, Ir. meur, O. Ir. mér. Strachan suggests the stem *makro-, root mak, great, mighty, Gr. μακρóς, long, Lat. macer, lean, macte, good luck, Zend. maç, great. Brugmann has compared it to Gr. μόκρωνα (Hes.), sharp (Lat. mucro).
mhàin, a mhàin, only, Ir. amháin, E. Ir. amáin. It has been divided into a prefix and root form: a-máin, the latter being parallel to Dor. Gr. μῶνος, Gr. μόνος, alone. Cf. O. Ir. nammá, tantum, "ut non sit magis" (na-n-má, Zeuss).
mi, I, Ir., O. Ir. mé, W. mi, Cor. my, me, Br. me: *mê, *me; Lat. mê; Gr. με; Eng. me; Skr. mâ.
mi-, un-, mis-, Ir., O. Ir. mí-, root mî, mei, mi, lessen; Gr. μείων, less; Lat. minus, less; Eng. mis-, Got. missa- (*miþto-). See maoth, mìn. Stokes makes mí- a comparative like μείων, and rejects the Teutonic words.
