Etymology

Mayhem Parva

May·hem Par·va

Today it means: The genre of detective fiction in which violent crimes occur in sleepy English villages. Full definition →

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₂w-“few, little; smallness”
  2. English todayMayhem Parva

From mayhem (noun) + Latin parva (the feminine singular form of parvus (“little”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), referring to village names in England such as Ashby Parva and Glen Parva. The term was coined by the British writer of detective fiction Colin Watson (1920–1983), referring to the works of the English author Agatha Christie (1890–1976).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*peh₂w- all →

fewpoorreposepaucalpauci-puellineputto

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.