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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode^® support, but fonts for only the Unicode 2.0 character set (including combining diacritics). Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 3. mē-, m-e-t- 'to measure'

Semantic Field: to Measure

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
English
Old English:	mǣl/māl/mēl	n.neut	measure; time, occasion	ASD
	mǣþ	n.fem	measure, portion	W7/ASD
	mēter	n.neut	meter	W7/ASD
Middle English:	commensal	adj	commensal	W7
	diametre	n	diameter	W7
	dimension	n	dimension	W7
	geometrie	n	geometry	W7
	meel	n	meal; appointed time	W7
	mensal	adj	mensal	AHD
	mesure	n	measure	W7
	meter	n	meter	W7
	-metrie	n.sfx	-metry	W7
English:	bolometer	n	very sensitive resistance thermometer	AHD/W7
	commensal	adj	re: those who eat together	AHD/W7
	commensurate	adj	coextensive, equal in measure/extent	AHD/W7
	diameter	n	chord passing through center of figure/body	AHD/W7
	dimension	n	extension in one direction	AHD/W7
	geometry	n	mathematics re: measurement/properties/relationships of points/lines/angles etc.	AHD/W7
	immense	adj	huge, marked by greatness in size/degree	AHD/W7
	isometric	adj	re: equality of measure	AHD/W7
	mahout	n	keeper/driver of elephant	AHD/W7
	maund	n	Indian unit of weight	AHD/W7
	meal	n	portion of food eaten at one time	AHD/W7
	measure	n	due/adequate portion	AHD/W7
	measure	vb	to govern, regulate; allot, apportion	W7
	mensa	n	table	AHD
	mensal	adj	re: (meal) table	AHD/W7
	mesa	n	isolated hill with steeply sloping sides/level top	AHD/W7
	-meter	n.sfx	instrument/means for measuring	AHD/W7
	meter	n	systematically arranged/measured rhythm in verse	AHD/W7
	meter	n	metric unit of length	AHD/W7
	metrical	adj	re: poetic meter	AHD
	-metry	n.sfx	art/science/process of measuring (something)	AHD/W7
	parameter	n	limit, qualification	TLL
	piecemeal	adv	in stages, by small amounts	AHD
	symmetry	n	balance in proportions	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Old High German:	māl	n	time	W7
	meter	n.neut	meter	ASD
Middle High German:	māl	n	time, mealtime, occasion	ASD
German:	einmal	adv	once, lit. one time	ASD
	Mahl	n	meal, mealtime	ASD
	Mal	n.neut	time, occasion	ASD
	Meter	n.masc	meter	LRC
N-Germanic
Icelandic:	mál	n	time, mealtime, season	ASD
E-Germanic
Gothic:	mēl	n.str.neut	time, season	LRC
Italic
Latin:	dimensio, dimensionis	n.fem	dimension, measure	W7
	dimetior, dimetiri, dimensus	vb	to measure out	W7
	immensus	adj	immeasurable	W7
	mēnsa	n.fem	mensa	W7
	mensura	n.fem	measure	W7
	metior, metiri, mensus	vb.dep	to measure	W7
	metrum	n.neut	meter, measure	W7
Late Latin:	commensuratus	vb.ptc	measured together	W7
	mēnsalis	adj	mensal	W7
	mensuro, mensurare, mensuravi, mensuratus	vb	to measure	W7
Medieval Latin:	commensalis	adj	re: banquet/eating together	W7
New Latin:	amenorrhea	n.fem	absence of menstruation	W7
Spanish:	mesa	n.fem	table	W7
Old French:	mesure	n.fem	measure	W7
	metre	n.masc	meter, measure	W7
Middle French:	diametre	n.masc	diameter	W7
	dimension	n.fem	dimension, measure	W7
	geometrie	n.fem	geometry	W7
	immense	adj	immense	W7
	mètre	n.masc	meter, measure	W7
	-metrie	sfx	measuring	W7
French:	mètre	n.masc	meter (unit in metric system)	W7
Baltic
Lithuanian:	mẽtas	n.masc	time	LRC
Latvian:	mesties, metos, metos	vb	to set in	LRC
Hellenic
Greek:	geōmetrein	vb	to measure the earth	W7
	geōmetria	n.fem	geometry, lit. earth measurement	W7
	diametros	n.fem	diameter	W7
	ʼέμμετρος	adj	metrical	LRC
	metrew	vb	to measure	W7
	-metria	n.sfx	action of measuring, measurement	W7
	metron	n.neut	meter, measure, meter	W7
	mēn	n.masc	month	W7
	symmetria	n.fem	symmetry	W7
	symmetros	adj	symmetric	W7
Indic
Hindi:	man	n	unit of weight	W7
	mahāwat, mahāut	n	keeper/driver of elephants	W7

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
dep	=	deponent
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
str	=	strong (inflection)
vb	=	verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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