measly

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*mos-“a skin sore”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*masuraz“a knot or scar in wood; a knarl”
3. Middle Low German · derived frommasel“a red skin blemish”
4. Middle Dutch · derived frommasel“a blister filled with blood; a pustule, a skin blemish”
5. English todaymeasly

From measle (“singular of measles”) + -y; the word measle is either from Middle Dutch masel (“a blister filled with blood; a pustule, a skin blemish”), or Middle Low German masel (“a red skin blemish”), from Proto-Germanic *masuraz (“a knot or scar in wood; a knarl”), from *mas-, *mēs- (“a spot; a sore; a scar”), from Proto-Indo-European *mos- (“a skin sore”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from late 16th c. Particularly of pigs or pork: infected with larval tapeworms or trichinae (parasitic roundworms).
• from mid 19th c. Small (especially contemptibly small) in amount.