Etymology

mereswine

M3E1R1E1S1W4I1N1E1

Today it means: A porpoise or dolphin. Full definition →

Middle English mereswyn ← Old English mereswīn ← Proto-West Germanic *mariswīn
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*mariswīną“dolphin, porpoise, cetacean”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*mariswīn
  3. Old English · inherited frommereswīn“porpoise, dolphin”
  4. Middle English · inherited frommereswyn“porpoise, dolphin”
  5. English todaymereswine

Inherited from Middle English mereswyn (“porpoise, dolphin”), from Old English mereswīn (“porpoise, dolphin”), from Proto-West Germanic *mariswīn, from Proto-Germanic *mariswīną (“dolphin, porpoise, cetacean”). By surface analysis, mere + swine or mer- + swine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.