maundy

The story

1. Latin · derived frommandatum“commandment”
2. Old French · derived frommandée“mandated”
3. Middle English · inherited frommaundee
4. English todaymaundy

From Middle English maundee, maunde, from Old French mandée (“mandated”), from Latin mandatum (“commandment”). Doublet of mandate. The word came to refer to the foot-washing ceremony performed on Thursday before Easter because of the phrase used by Jesus to explain his act of foot-washing, which in the Latin Vulgate begins: Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem ..., i.e. "A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another …" (John 13:34).

Words from the same roots