moonlight

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*med-
2. Proto-Indo-European*meh₁-?
3. Proto-Indo-European*mḗh₁n̥s
4. Proto-Germanic*mēnô
5. Proto-West Germanic*mānō
6. Old Englishmōna
7. Middle Englishmone
8. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-
9. Proto-Indo-European*lewktom
10. Proto-Germanic*leuhtą
11. Proto-West Germanic*leuht
12. Old Englishlēoht
13. Middle Englishlight
14. Middle Englishmoonelight
15. English todaymoonlight

The noun is derived from Middle English moonelight, monelight, mone lyght (“light of the moon; (heraldry) pattern of moons on the field of a heraldic banner”), from mon, mone (“moon”) (from Old English mōna (“moon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”)) + light (“light”) (from Old English lēoht (“light”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)). By surface analysis, moon + light. The verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.1 (“to secretly leave premises without paying the rent”) is a back-formation from moonlight flit, while verb sense 1.2 (“to make a night-time attack on a tenant farmer”) is probably a back-formation from moonlighter. cognates * Dutch maanlicht * German Mondlicht * Scots muinlicht, munelicht * West Frisian moanneljocht

Words from the same roots