Etymology

Merovingian

Me·ro·vin·gi·an
M3E1R1O1V4I1N1G2I1A1N1

Today it means: Of or relating to the Merovings, the members of a Salian Frankish dynasty, descended from Merovech, that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin) largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century, and whose politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family. Full definition →

Middle French Merovingien ← Medieval Latin Merovingī ← Proto-West Germanic *Mārīwīg
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*mērijaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*mārī
  3. Proto-Indo-European*weyk-
  4. Proto-Germanic*wiganą
  5. Proto-Germanic*wīgą
  6. Proto-West Germanic*wīg
  7. Proto-West Germanic*Mārīwīg
  8. Medieval LatinMerovingī
  9. Middle FrenchMerovingien
  10. English todayMerovingian

From Middle French Merovingien (“of or relating to the Merovings, the descendants of Merovech”), from Medieval Latin Merovingī (“Merovings”) [plural of Merovingus, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *Mārīwīg (a male given name composed of *mārī (“famous”) + *wīg (“fight”)) + *-ing] + Middle French -ien. (See Meroving for more.) By surface analysis, Meroving + -ian.

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*Mārīwīg all →

MerovechMeroving

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.