An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Meise

by Friedrich Kluge

Meise, f., ‘titmouse,’ from the equiv. MidHG. meise, OHG. meisa, f.; comp. Du. mees, AS. mâse (E. only in titmouse, a corruption of tit-moase; AS. â is equiv. to E. oa); OIc. meisingr, m., with a suffix ‘titmouse.’ A term peculiar to Teut., which passed also into Fr. (Fr. mésange, ‘titmouse,’ formed from Scand. meisingr?); origin obscure. Only a few names of birds can be traced beyond the Teut. group (comp. Aar, Drossel, Specht, and Kranich).