Figure 16: The Indo-European root "me-"

                     and the

                     Etymology of modulus

 

Content

Alois Walde: Lateinisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. 1954 (first ed. 1906)

Herbert Stachowiak: Allgemeine Modelltheorie. 1973

Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 1949

William Morris (Hrsg.): The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 1969

Joseph Twadell Shipley: The Origins of English Words. 1984

Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 1985.

 

 

 

There are various different Indo-European roots me- (Pokorny: 7; Morris: 6; Shipley: 4) and med- (Pokorny: 2; Morris: 1; Shipley: 1); see also: mel-

Here a selection:

 

 

(1. Aufl. 1906)

3. neubearbeitete Auflage von Johann Baptist Hofmann. Heidelberg: Carl Winter 1954, II, 100.

Wz. = Wurzel (not IE-root but only Greek-Latin root)

St.= Stamm

 

modus, -i m. „Mass, Takt; Grenze, Mass und Ziel; Regel, Bestimmung, Art und Weise“

… vgl. noch modulus m. „Mass; Masstab; Rhythmus, Takt“ seit Varro …

 

Wz. *med- „ermessen", s. meditor; ursprüngl. Bestand o-St. modus m. und *medos, *medesos n. mit e-Vok. (der es-St. gesichert durch modes-tus und moderārī; o durch Kreuzung mit modus wie pondō neben pondus, Brugmann II² 1, 521, Schulze KZ. 61, 189);

vgl. u. mers, mers n. 'iūs' (*medos, Götze IF. 41, 133), mersto ‚iūstum, prosperum' (*medesto-; vgl. meltom), mersuva Abl.Sg.F. ‚iūstā, solitā' (*mede's-euo-, Brugmann II² 1, 204 f., Persson Beitr. 208), o. usw. meddiss ‚iūdex (*medo-dik-s [Götze a. O.128], s. oben S. 56;

kaum Wz nom. *med-, Meillet BSL. 23, 94 ff., Ernout-Meillet² 599).

 

- Sommer IF. 11, 335 (Hb.² 114) erkennt nur den es-St. *medos an und erklärt modus lautgesetzlich durch o-Umlaut aus *medos mit Übertritt in die o-Flexion durch Anschluss an rogus, focus; doch ist der Geltungsbereich dieses o-Umlautes umstritten (vgl. auch Solmsen Stud. 17 f.) und vor folgender Media anderweitig nicht gesichert (Stolz IF. 18, 469).

 

- Sütterlin IF. 27, 118 ff. sieht verfehlterweise in den Gerundialformen auf -ndus (rotundus aus *roto-modus usw.) Zss. mit modus.

 

- Nhd. Mus bleibt fern (s. Walde-P. II 232). - Walde-P. II 259.

 

 

Berlin: Springer 1973, 129.

 

 

Das Wort Modell wurde ursprünglich in Anlehnung an das französische Substantiv modèle gebildet. Dieses entstammt ebenso wie das italienische modello der vulgärlateinischen Form modellus, ihrerseits hervorgegangen aus dem lateinischen modulus. Modulus (Mass, Massstab) ist die Deminutivform von modus (urspr.: Mass, Normalmass, Massstab; übertr. auch: Art, Weise, Form, Vorschrift).

 

Das Substantiv modus geht auf die griechisch-lateinische Wurzel med/ mod [vgl. medo, medomai (ich denke an etwas, erwäge, sorge für etwas) sowie modestus (massvoll, gemässigt), modius (Mass, insbesondere der römische Scheffel)] zurück, die eine d-Erweiterung der indogermanischen Wurzel *meH darstellt [vgl. altindisch: māti (er misst), mātra, miti (Mass); griechisch: metron (Mass); lateinisch: metior (ich messe, messe zu, ermesse)].

 

Das deutsche Wort Modell besitzt ursprünglich, d. h. vor der neuerlichen Erweiterung und Präzisierung seines Begriffsinhalts, dieselbe Bedeutung wie seine Übersetzungsäquivalente modèle und modello, und zwar sowohl im physiko-technischen wie im künstlerischen Bereich mit der bekannten zweifachen Doppelbedeutung:

1.     Modell als a) Abbild von etwas sowie als b) Vorbild für etwas,

2.     Modell als c) Repräsentation eines bestimmten Originals (im Sinne von a) und b)) sowie d) in Malerei und Plastik, vom vorgenannten Wortgebrauch abweichend, als weibliches oder männliches Individuum, an dem sich die künstlerische Nachbildung eines Menschen (der nicht unbedingt mit dem „Modell-Stehenden" identisch zu sein oder überhaupt wirklich zu existieren braucht) orientiert.

 

 

2 Bde, Bern: Francke 1949; mehrere Aufl. bis 2002.

p. 702-706, 716

 

http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/query.cgi?basename=\data\ie\pokorny&root=config&morpho=0

 

 

me-1

English meaning: 1sg personal pronoun (oblique stem)

German meaning: oblique Form des Pers. -Pron. der 1. Sg

 

me-2

English meaning: in the middle of, by, around, with

German meaning: als Grundlage von Adverbien (Präpositionen) `mitten in, mitten hinein'

 

mē-1

English meaning: prohibitive particle

German meaning: ‚(dass) nicht'

 

mē-2, m-e-t-

English meaning: to reap

German meaning: ‚mähen'

 

mē-3, m-e-t-

English meaning: to measure

German meaning: `etwas abstecken, messen, abmessen'

Derivatives: mē-no- ‚Mass', mē-ti- ‚Mass, Klugheit'; mē-to- ‚ Jahr'

 

… gr. metron ‚Mass' (nach Brugmann Grundr. II² 1, 342 wie ai. d-á-tra-m ‚Gabe' zu *dō-); metis ‚Plan, List', metieo ‚beschliesse', metieoumai ‚ersinne'

... lat. mētior, -–rī–, mēnsus sum (Reimbildung zu pēnsus) ‚messen, abmessen', wovon wohl mēnsa ‚Tisch, Esstisch; die Speisen selbst' …

 

mē-4, m΅-

English meaning: big, important

German meaning: ‚gross, ansehnlich'

 

mē-5, m΅-, mə-

English meaning: to have a strong will; to be intent on smth.

German meaning: ‚heftigen und kräftigen Willens sein, heftig streben'

 

med-1

English meaning: to measure; to give advice, healing

German meaning: ‚messen, ermessen'

Derivatives: mēdos- ‚Ermessen'; mēΆd- ‚Arzt'

 

… gr. medomai‚ bin worauf bedacht', medon, medeon ‚Walter, Herrscher', medimnos ‚Scheffel'; dehnstufig medomai ‚ersinne, fasse einen Beschluss', medea Nom. Pl. ‚Sorge, Ratschlag', mestor, -oros ‚kluger Berater', PN Poly-medes, Klytai-mestra;

 

lat. meditor, -ārī– ‚worüber nachdenken', modus ‚Mass, Art und Weise', modestus ‚massvoll, bescheiden', moderāre `mässigen' (enthalten ein neutr. *medos, aber wohl auch ein mask. *modos), modius ‚Scheffel' …

 

See also: med- ist verwandt mit mē-3 (oben S. 703 f.).

 

med-2

English meaning: to swell

German meaning: ‚schwellen'?

 

 

mel-1 (auch smel-), melə- : mlē-, mel-d- : ml-ed-, mel-dh-, ml-ēi- : ml–Ά-, melə-k- : mlā-k-, mlēu- : mlūΆ-

English meaning: to grind, hit; fine, ground

German meaning: ‚zermalmen, schlagen, mahlen', speziell Korn; aus ‚zerrieben' auch ‚fein, zart, weich' und ‚aufgerieben, schwach'

Derivatives: meluΈo- ‚Mehl'; mol-to-, ml•-to-, ml•―-to- ‚Zermalmung', ml–-no- ‚zermalmt'

 

… lat. mol΅, -ere ‚mahlen' (= air. melid), molīna ‚Mühle', mola ‚Mühlstein'; … lat. mulier ‚Weib' (aus *muliΈe΄si, idg. *ml•-iΈe΄s– ‚die zartere', Kompar. zu mollis [S. 718]); marcus ‚Hammer', Rµckbildung zu marculus, martellus (*mal-tl-os), das a wie in lat. palma: gr. palame; lat. malleus ‚Hammer, Schlägel' aus *mal-ni- ‚Zermalmung’

 

 

Boston: American Heritage 1969; 4. Aufl. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin 2000, again 2006.

 

Indo-European Roots

 

me-¹ DEFINITION: Oblique form of the personal pronoun of the first person singular.

 

me-² DEFINITION: In the middle of.

 

m-¹ DEFINITION: Expressing certain qualities of mind. Contracted from *me₁-.

 

m-² DEFINITION: To measure. Contracted from *me₁-.
Derivatives include piecemeal, immense, meter¹, geometry, moon, and semester.

 

I. Basic form m-.

1. Suffixed form *m-lo-. meal²; piecemeal, from Old English ml, “measure, mark, appointed time, time for eating, meal,” from Germanic *mlaz.

2. Suffixed form *m-ti-. a. measure, mensural; commensurate, dimension, immense, from Latin mtr, to measure; b. Metis, from Greek mtis, wisdom, skill.

3. Possibly Greek metron, measure, rule, length, proportion, poetic meter (but referred by some to med-): meter¹, meter², meter³, –meter, metrical, –metry; diameter, geometry, isometric, metrology, metronome, symmetry.

4. Reduplicated zero-grade form *mi-m-. mahout, maund, from Sanskrit mimte, he measures.

II. Extended and suffixed forms *mn-, *mn-en-, *mn-t-, *mn-s-, moon, month (an ancient and universal unit of time measured by the moon).

1. moon; Monday, from Old English mna, moon, from Germanic *mnn-.

2. month, from Old English mnath, month, from Germanic *mnth-.

3. meno-; amenorrhea, catamenia, dysmenorrhea, emmenagogue, menarche, meniscus, menopause, from Greek mn, mn, month.

4. menses, menstrual, menstruate; bimestrial, semester, trimester, from Latin mnsis, month. (Pokorny 3. m- 703, mnt 731.)

 

m-³ DEFINITION: Big. Contracted from *me₁-.

 

m-⁴ DEFINITION: To cut down grass or grain with a sickle or scythe. Contracted from *me

 

med- DEFINITION: To take appropriate measures.
Derivatives include medicine, modest, modern, commodity, and empty.
1a. mete¹, from Old English metan, to measure (out), from Germanic *metan; b. meet², from Old English gemte, “commensurate,” fit (ge-, with; see kom), from Germanic derivative *mt, measure.

2a. medical, medicate, medicine, medico; metheglin, remedy, from Latin medr, to look after, heal, cure; b. meditate, from Latin meditr, to think about, consider, reflect.

3. Suffixed form *med-es-. a. modest; immodest, from Latin modestus, “keeping to the appropriate measure,” moderate; b. moderate; immoderate, from Latin moderr, “to keep within measure,” to moderate, control. Both a and b from Latin *modes-, replacing *medes- by influence of modus (see 5 below).

4. Medusa, from Greek medein, to rule (feminine participle medousa < *med-ont-ya).

5. Suffixed o-grade form *mod-o-. modal, mode, model, modern, modicum, modify, modulate, module, modulus, mold¹, mood², moulage; accomodate, commode, commodious, commodity, from Latin modus, measure, size, limit, manner, harmony, melody.

6. Suffixed o-grade form *mod-yo-. modiolus, mutchkin, from Latin modius, a measure of grain.

7. Possibly lengthened o-grade form *md-. a. mote², must¹, from Old English mtan, to have occasion, to be permitted or obliged; b. empty, from Old English metta, rest, leisure, from Germanic compound *-mt-ja- (prefix *-, meaning uncertain, from Indo-European *, *, to). Both a and b from Germanic *mt-, ability, leisure. (Pokorny 1. med- 705.)

 

 

mel- DEFINITION: Also mel-. To crush, grind; with derivatives referring to various ground or crumbling substances (such as flour) and to instruments for grinding or crushing (such as millstones). Oldest form *mel₂-.

1. O-grade form *mol-. maelstrom, from Middle Dutch malen, to whirl, from Germanic *mal-

2. Full-grade form *mel-. meal¹, from Old English melu, flour, meal, from Germanic suffixed form *mel-wa-.

3. Zero-grade form *m-. mold³, molder, from Old English molde, soil, from Germanic suffixed form *mul-d.

4. Full-grade form *mel-. a. meunière, mill¹, mola², molar², mole⁴, moulin; emolument, immolate, ormolu, from Latin molere, to grind (grain), and its derivative mola, a millstone, mill, coarse meal customarily sprinkled on sacrificial animals; b. possible suffixed form *mel-iyo-. mealie, miliary, milium, millet; gromwell, from Latin milium, millet.

5. Suffixed variant form *mal-ni-. malleable, malleolus, mallet, malleus, maul; pall-mall, from Latin malleus, hammer, mallet.

6. Zero-grade form *m-. amylum, mylonite, from Greek mul, mulos, millstone, mill.

7. Possibly extended form *ml-. blini, blintz, from Old Russian blin, pancake. (Pokorny 1. mel- 716.)

 

medhyo- DEFINITION: Middle.
Derivatives include middle, medieval, and meridian.

See also me-² [in the middle of]

 

 

A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 1984, 232-235.

 

Fr = French

Ir = Irish

It = Italian

Gc = Germanic

Gk = Greek

L = Latin

Sk = Sanskrit

W = Welsh

 

OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

 

me I. Forms of the personal pronoun. It, madonna: my lady. Mona (Lisa) is a corruption of monna, madonna. Fr, madame, mademoiselle. mademoiselle is also the name of a salt-water fish, the silver perch.

Via Ir, machree; mavourneen: my darling. Gc, me, mine, my, myself. For I, see eg.

Kathleen Mavourneen! The grey dawn is breaking,

The horn of the hunter is heard an the hill ...

Oh! why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?

- Julia Crawford, 1835

 

me II: to cut grass. Gc, mead, meadow, math: what is mowed; figuratively, aftermath. mow. If Napoleon had prevailed, we'd be starting the harvest in Messidor (L metere, messum: reap; Gk doron: gift): June 19 to July 18, the tenth month of his short-lived calendar, set in 1792, canceled in 1805; see kel II.

 

me III, megh: great. See magh; mak. Skr maha. maharajah (feminine, maharanee). Mahabharata: one of the two great Hindu epics. Bharata: literally, storied, is Aryan India. The other epic is the Ramayana (yana: vehicle; Rama, name of three incarnations - the sixth, seventh, and eighth - of the god Vishnu). Mahayana. mahatma. mahout. Maratha. mahseer: great-headed fish. By playful euphemism, mehta: sweeper (feminine, matranee). Possibly maya: great art, magic, illusion.

Gk megas: great, megistos: greatest. Prefix mega, as megaphone, megavolt. megalo-, as megalocardia, megalomania; megalopolis (more or less replaced by the hybrid megacity, as skyscraper seems to be giving way to highriser). OED lists 14 words beginning mega and details 59 more; it lists 19 others beginning megalo, including megalops: the large-eyed crab. In its 1976 supplement it lists 16 more mega words and details another 15.

Also acromelagy. almagest (Arab al: the): literally, the greatest work, an astrology. Hermes Trismegistus: thrice greatest; legendary priest of Egypt who taught the use of the olive, hieroglyphics, and geometry (: land measurement, required annually after the receding of the Nile flood). omega: great O, last letter of the Greek alphabet; there is also an omicron: little o; see mei I and sme. "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end" - Bible, Revelation 1:8.

L magnus, maior, maximus: great, greater, greatest. magnanimous, magnate. magistrate, and, from L magister, master, mister, mistress. A masterpiece was first a piece presented by an apprentice craftsman, to earn the right to work by himself, as a master in his guild.

magnificent, magnify, magnitude; magnum. magniloquent. bonum magnum: literally, great good; a large potato, also a plum. magnum opus: one's chief work. Magna Carta. magnesium is named for Magnesia, a region in Thessaly rich in minerals; hence also milk of magnesia; manganese (see el 25); and magnet (with over 20 associated words in OED).

majesty; major; majority, contrasted with minority and plurality, which means more than any others but less than half. majuscule, opposite of minuscule; see mei I. magisterial, magistral; mayor. palmistry: mastery of the hand. mistral. Names, as Max, Maximilian, Maxime, Maxine. maxim, maximum; OED defines 14 relevant words. In the 12th c., Albertus Magnus used maxim to describe a basic proposition "not intuitively certain like an axiom," but "practically indisputable." The maxim machine gun is named for inventor Hiram S. Maxim, 1884; named for his brother, Hudson, is the smokeless gunpowder maximite, and for his son Hiram P. the maxim silencer. From mining engineer Max Braun, in 1872, came maxite.

Maia, goddess of growth, which becomes noticeable in her month, May. Maianthemum: genus of plants. It, maestro, magnifico, majordomo. Gc, much, more, most. almost. Scot, mickel. "A mickle for a nickel."

 

The earnest Milton, in Of Education: "I call therefore a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform most justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices both public and private of peace and war."

The cynical Bertrand Russell, in The Conquest of Happiness: "The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history."

Ben Jonson, in his fifth song of Celebration of Charis, linked three goddesses:

She is Venus when she smiles,

But she's Juno when she walks

And Minerva when she talks

 

- thus crediting her with loveliness, majesty, and wisdom.

 

me IV: measure; the setting of time. Skr masr, Gk mene: the moon, a widespread measure of time. menses, menstruate; menarche, menopause. meniscus; menology. catamenia; amenorrhea; dismenorrhea; menorrhagia. emmenagogue, emmenic, emmenology. Menaspis: genus of moonshield sharks, now extinct. Menispermum: genus of moonseeds.

L mensus: month. mensal. bimestrial; semester, trimester. L metiri, mensum. measure, admeasure, immeasurable.

- Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man.

- Coleridge, Kubla Khan

 

metric, centimeter, etc. diameter: measure across; perimeter: measure around. metrology. metronome. geometry (ge: earth). trigonometry (tri, trigon: three, triangle). isometric. For mensuration, see below.

Gc, meal: time to eat. piecemeal: a measure of one at a time; thus also inchmeal (The Tempest, ii, 2), "tear her limb-meal" (Cymbeline, ii, 4), and "when worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie" (Gerard Manley Hopkins [d. 1889], Spring and Fall).

moon, Monday, month, moonlit; honeymoon (period of sweetness). moonstruck, coined by Milton, akin to lunatic; see leuk. moonshine has long been used of something unsubstantial, unreal; how it came to this is suggested by Rosaline's words in Love's Labor's Lost:

Beg another matter,

Thou now request'st but moonshine in the water.

 

De Quincey, in the opening of his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822), protesting Coleridge's excuse of his own habit while condemning De Quincey's, said of his great contemporary: "Coleridge's entire statement upon that subject is perfect moonshine." eggs in moonshine was a delicious 18th c. dish (Mrs. Glass, Cookery [1767]): eggs hard-boiled, in a "sky" of blanc mange and a "half-moon" of clear jelly. And of course, since the 18th c., moonshine has been illicit liquor, first applied to brandy smuggled by moonlight an the Kentish coast of England. In 1901 Munsey's Magazine stated: "Georgia and Arkansas have the greatest number of moonshine stills." The more recent moonlighting means taking a second job in the evening.

measurable and measurement are twinned with mensurable and mensuration - the former, part Greek; the latter, all Latin. Here also are commensurate, dimension, immense.

Various Greek and Latin forms are used as prefixes in modern mensuration tables.

…

 

The moon is nothing

But a circumambulating aphrodisiac

Divinely subsidized to provoke the world

Into a rising birthrate.

- Christopher Fry, The Lady 's Not for Burning (1948)

 

med: measure, take measure; hence ponder, judge, prescribe. An extension of me IV, this root formed many Latin words: modicus, modulus, modus; meditari, meditatum; medicina; etc. Thence moderate, immoderate, etc. modest, immodest. modal; mode and its doublet mood (in grammar; form modified by mood: state of mind, see moro). model; mo(u)ld: pattern.

modern (measured as of our day; influenced by diurnal, ete.). modicum; modify; modulate, module. accommodate, commode, commodious, commodity. meditation, etc. Meditation is the last of the stations an the eightfold Way to Nirvana; it is of little worth until the other seven are achieved; see okto. premeditated.

medical, medication, medicine, medicinal, etc. remedy. Fr, modiste, moulage, turmoil, folkchanged from L trimodia: vessel containing three measures, applied to a mill hopper, which shook as the grain flowed through. W, metheglin: literally, honey juice, deemed medicinal; see medhu. Gc, mete, must; meet: fit. helpmeet, a misreading of the Bible, Genesis 2:18: "It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an help meet for him"; modified to helpmate.

 

 

Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1985, 2002.

 

identical with William Morris, 1969 (see above).

except an additional (inserted) item to med-

Point 5: Suffixed lengthened e-grade form *mēd-es-. Diomedes (personal name), from Greek Diomēdēs, „having Zeus’s counsel“ (Dio-, Zeus; see dyeu-), from mēdos, counsel, plan.