The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*spilþijaną“to kill, ruin, murder”
- Latin · derived frommundus“world”
- Old Norse · borrowed fromMuspell
- English todayMuspell
Borrowed from Old Norse Muspell. The ultimate origin is disputed, but one suggestion includes Latin mundus (“world”) + Proto-Germanic *spilþijaną (“to kill, ruin, murder”), thus meaning "destruction of the world." More at Muspilli. Cognates include Old Saxon mūdspelli, Old High German muspilli. More at spill.
Words from the same roots
Latinmundus all →
mundializationmundivagant
Proto-Germanic*spilþijaną all →
spill
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.