Etymology

mesh

M3E1S1H4

Today it means: A structure made of connected strands of metal, fiber, or other flexible/ductile material, with evenly spaced openings between them. Full definition →

Middle English mesche ← Old English masc ← Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*mezg-“to knit, twist, plait”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*maskwǭ
  3. Old English · inherited frommasc“net”
  4. Middle English · inherited frommesche
  5. English todaymesh

From Middle English mesche, from Old English masc (“net”) (perhaps influenced in form by related Old English mæscre (“mesh, spot”)), from the related Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ and *maskrǭ respectively, from Proto-Indo-European *mezg- (“to knit, twist, plait”). Akin to Old High German māsca (“mesh”), Old Saxon maska (“net”), Old Norse mǫskvi, mǫskun (“mesh”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.