Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/252

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mow, reap,’ and which has a shorter form, mê, in ModHG. mähen.

Matte (2.), f., ‘mat,’ from MidHG. matte (late MidHG. also matze), OHG. matta, f., ‘covering woven of straw, rushes, &c., mat’; Du. mat, AS. meatte, f., E. mat. The correspondence of the HG. and LG.-Eng. dental indicates that the word was borrowed, and as a fact it was introduced during the OHG. period. It is based on Lat. matta, ‘mat made of rushes.’

Matz, m., ‘Mat; simpleton; pet name for tame birds’; ModHG. only; probably a pet name for Mathias, ‘Matthias,’ and Matthäus, ‘Matthew’; the intermediate form is Mattes.

Matzen, m., ‘passover bread,’ early ModHG.; from Jewish mazzo, Hebr. mazzôth, ‘unleavened bread,’ whence also late MidHG., or rather early ModHG. Mafanze, ‘passover bread.’

mauen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. mâwen, ‘to mew like a cat’; an imitative word; comp. Mietze.

Mauer, f., from the equiv. MidHG. mûre, mûr, s., ‘wall,’ OHG. mûra, f. (mûri, f.), ‘wall,’ from Lat. mûrus, with an abnormal change of gender, which is probably caused by an OTeut. word for ‘wall’; comp. Goth. waddjus, f. At the same period, before the HG. permutation, OSax. mûr, AS. mûr, m. (OIr. múr), were also borrowed from the Lat., like other words relating to stone buildings; comp. Siegel, Fenster, Pforte, Speicher, &c.

Mauke, f., with a LG. guttural, from the equiv. MidHG. mûche, f., ‘malanders,’ hence the strictly HG. form Mauche (Bav.). Of obscure origin; perhaps allied to Goth. mûks, ‘soft, tender’?.

Maul (1.), n., ‘mouth (of beasts), muzzle’ (in UpG. Maul is also used for Mund, ‘mouth of men’), from MidHG. mûl, mûle, n., mûle, f. (MidG.), ‘mouth,’ OHG. mûla, f., ‘mouth,’ also ‘beak’; Du. muil, OIc. múle, m., ‘mouth, snout’; Goth. *mûlô, n., ‘mouth,’ is wanting, but is authenticated by the derivative faurmâljan, ‘to muzzle.’ This word is an l derivative from the root mû, from which HG. Mund, with a particip. suffix. nþ, is also formed; see Mund.

Maul (2.), n., ‘mule,’ in Maultier, n., Maulesel, m., from MidHG. mûltier, n., mûlesel, m., yet ordinarily simply mûl, m. and n., mûle, m., ‘mule,’ OHG. mûl, m.; borrowed from Lat. mûlus. From the

same source Du. muil, m muilezel, AS. mûl, E. mule, as well as OIr. múl, are derived.

Maulbeere, f., from the equiv. MidHG. mûlber, n. and f., ‘mulberry,’ which originated, by differentiating r to l, from OHG. mûr-beri, môr-beri, n. The fluctuation from ô to û in OHG. indicates that the word was borrowed from Lat. môrum, ‘mulberry,’ môrus, ‘mulberry tree,’ whence also Du. moerbes, AS. and MidE. môrberie and mûrberie, MidE. also mulberie, E. mulberry.

Maulwurf, m., from the equiv. MidHG. môltwërf, moltwërfe, m., ‘mole,’ lit. ‘the animal that throws up the soil’ (MidHG. molte, f.). The ModHG. form is a corruption of the MidHG. word, which is recorded even in the MidHG. and OHG. periods in various forms (MidHG. mûwërf, mûlwërf, mûlwëlf, mûrwërf). Other ModHG. corrupt forms are the dial. Moltwurm, Maulwurm, and Maulwolf. OHG. moltwerf, multwurf, m., ‘mole,’ are connected with MidHG. molte, f., molt, m., ‘dust, mould, soil,’ OHG. molta, f., molt, m.; comp. Goth. mulda, f., ‘dust, mould,’ AS. molde, E. mould; prop. a fem. subst. from the partic. formed with da- from the root mal, ‘to crush, pulverise,’ hence mul-da; comp. falt, alt, laut, and zart. In MidE. also moldwerp, ‘mole’ occurs; of this MidE. mole, Du., Westph., and Fris. mol are shortened forms?. These, however, are probably independent forms from the root mal. Another name for mole appears in OHG. scëro, MidHG. schër, Suab. and Alem. Schärmaus.

Maus (1.), ‘mouse,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. mûs, f.; comp. Du. muis, AS. mûs, f., E. mouse, OIc. mús (Goth. *mûs), f., ‘mouse.’ In the consonantal form of the stem, mûs-, it is the common Teut. as well as the common Aryan term for ‘mouse.’ The name occurs in almost all the Aryan languages, a proof that the Aryans in their primit. Asiatic home were already acquainted with the tiny animal, chiefly through its thefts, mûs- being derived from an OAryan root, mū̆s, ‘to steal,’ which exists in the Franc. chrêomosido, ‘plundering dead bodies,’ of the Lex Salica, and signifying ‘thief’ (it is possible, however, that the mū̆s, ‘to steal,’ is deduced from mûs, ‘mouse’). Comp. Sans. mûš, ‘mouse,’ with the root muš, mušây, ‘to take away, rob’; also Gr. μῦς, OSlov. myšĭ, f. Comp. further the following word.

Maus (2.), prop. ‘muscles on the arm and foot,’ now espec. ‘ball of the thumb,’