merry

merry · adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*mréǵʰus“short”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*murguz“short, slow”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*murgī“short, slow, leisurely”
4. Old English · inherited frommyrġe
5. Middle English · inherited frommyrie
6. English todaymerry

From Middle English myrie, merie, mery, from Old English myrġe, myriġe (“pleasing, agreeable; pleasant, sweet, delightful; melodious”), from Proto-West Germanic *murgī (“short, slow, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *murguz (“short, slow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short”). Cognate with Scots mery, mirry (“merry”), Middle Dutch mergelijc (“pleasant, agreeable, joyful”), Norwegian dialectal myrjel (“small object, figurine”), Latin brevis (“short, small, narrow, shallow”), Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”). Doublet of brief.

merry · noun²

1. French · derived frommerise
2. English todaymerry

From French merise.

Words from the same roots