mead

mead · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*médʰu“honey; honey wine”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*meduz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*medu
4. Old English · inherited frommedu
5. Middle English · inherited frommede
6. English todaymead

From Middle English mede, from Old English medu, from Proto-West Germanic *medu, from Proto-Germanic *meduz, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰu (“honey; honey wine”). Cognate with Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu) (whence English methyl), Lithuanian medùs, Old Church Slavonic медъ (medŭ, “honey”), Persian می (mey), Sanskrit मधु (mádhu), Welsh medd, Finnish mesi, Chinese 蜜 (mì).

mead · noun²

1. Old English · inherited frommǣd
2. Middle English · inherited frommede“meadow”
3. English todaymead

From Middle English mede (“meadow”), from Old English mǣd. Cognate with West Frisian miede, Mede, German Low German Meed, Dutch made.

Mead · proper noun³

1. Old English · derived frommedu“mead”
2. Old English · derived frommǣd“meadow”
3. English todayMead

Two main origins: * A topographic surname for someone who lived by a meadow, from Old English mǣd (“meadow”). * A metonymic occupational surname for a brewer or seller of mead, from Old English medu (“mead”).

Words from the same roots