Word origins

• matheticsThe study of learning.
• mazologyMammalogy.
• meandrosSynonym of Greek key (“a decorative border constructed from a continuous line”).
• MecheirThe sixth month of the later ancient Egyptian civil calendar and Coptic calendar, corresponding to the second month of the season of Peret. Since 25 BCE, when the calendar was reformed to include leap-days, Mecheir has been in roughly February.
• meco-length or distance.
• meconThe opium poppy.
• meconidineA rare alkaloid found in opium, extracted as a yellow amorphous substance which is easily decomposed.
• meconidiumA kind of gonophore produced by hydroids of the genus Gonothyraea (Campanulariidae), having tentacles, and otherwise resembling a free medusa, but remaining attached by a pedicel.
• medimnosA unit of dry capacity, in Ancient Greece, equal to about 52-58 litres, according to region and era.
• medusavirusA giant virus infecting amoebae causing them to shrivel and harden.
• mega-Very large, great.
• MegabazusName of several notable Achaemenid Persians
• megacosmA macrocosm.
• megacycliteA monoclinic-prismatic mineral containing hydrogen, oxygen, potassium, silicon, and sodium.
• MegaeraOne of the Furies, Erinyes in Greek mythology, the cause of jealousy and envy, who punishes people who commit crimes, especially marital infidelity.
• megalo-large, great or exaggerated
• megalographyThe depiction of great or grand things, such as heroes and gods; painting on a large scale
• megalomartyrSynonym of great martyr (“A saint who was martyred after suffering great torture”).
• megalopsychiagreatness of soul; magnanimity
• megalopsychosAristotle’s “great-souled man”: an aristocratic paragon who embodies the virtues to an exceptional degree (a figure described chiefly in Aristotle’s Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics).
• megalopterousRelating to or characteristic of the order Megaloptera, which comprises insects with large wings and aquatic larvae.
• -megalyenlargement
• MeganesiaThe continent comprising Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania, which was one connected landmass during the last Ice Age.
• megapolisA very large city or urban complex; a metropolis.
• megaronThe rectangular great hall in a Mycenaean building, usually supported with pillars.
• megasemeHaving the orbital index relatively large, therefore having eye sockets nearby.
• megasporangiumA sporangium which produces only megaspores
• megathereAn extinct, gigantic, ground sloth (Megatherium americanum) that flourished in South America during the Pleistocene epoch.
• meio-Small, little.
• mekometerA kind of precision rangefinder.
• mela-black; dark
• melainotypeA ferrotype or tintype.
• MelampusA legendary soothsayer and healer, originally of Pylos, who ruled at Argos.
• melano-Black (color, of anything).
• melanochroicHaving a dark complexion; dark-skinned
• melanochroousmelanochroic; dark-complexioned
• melanocomousDark-haired or black-haired.
• melanothalliteAn orthorhombic-dipyramidal mineral containing chlorine, copper, and oxygen.
• MelanthoA slave of Penelope in the Odyssey.
• melanureA small fish of the Mediterranean, saddled seabream (Oblada melanura)
• MeletusA male given name from Ancient Greek, of historical usage.
• meliliteany mineral consisting of a solid solution of gehlenite (Ca₂Al₂SiO₇) and akermanite (Ca₂MgSi₂O₇)
• MelinoeAn obscure figure, a daughter of Persephone and Zeus, or a daughter of Hades and Persephone, represented as a bringer of nightmares and madness.
• melismaA passage of several notes sung to one syllable of text.
• meliss-Bee, honey.
• melissicRelated to beewax.
• melisso-Bee, honey.
• melissopalynologyThe study of pollen from bees and in their honey
• melissophobiaA morbid fear of bees.
• melittologistOne who studies bees.
• melittologyThe study of bees
• melittophilypollination by bees
• melo-Music.
• melomaniacOne with an abnormal fondness of music; a person who loves music.
• melopoeiaArt of composing melodies.
• meloschisisA congenital fissure of the face or cheek.
• mempsisA figure of speech expressing complaint or seeking help or redress for a wrong or grievance.
• meningomyeloceleA congenital defect of the central nervous system of infants in which membranes and the spinal cord protrude through an opening or defect in the vertebral column.
• meno-month
• menobranchA large aquatic American salamander of the genus Necturus (formerly Menobranchus), with permanent external gills.
• menobranchusA mudpuppy.
• MenoetiusA Titan, son of Iapetus and Clymene, he had three brothers: Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus. He joined Cronus and the Titans in their unsuccessful war against the Olympian gods. Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt and sent him down to Tartarus.
• menopomeThe hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis).
• meonticRelating to nonbeing or meontology; having the quality of what is not.
• meontologyThe study or concept of nothingness or nonbeing; an attempt to cover what may remain outside of ontology.
• -merUsed to form words relating to chemical structure, denoting parts of a molecule, for example, monomer (one part), dimer (two parts), polymer (many parts).
• -mereForming nouns with the sense of part, segment
• mereologyThe discipline which deals with the relationship of parts with their respective wholes.
• merisisAny form of growth; specifically, growth by increase in number of cells.
• merismA reference to something by its polar extremes, as in "we searched high and low".
• merismaticDividing into cells or segments.
• merismusA metonymic term to describe a type of synecdoche in which two parts of a thing, perhaps contrasting or complementary parts, are made to stand for the whole.
• meristicsThe counting of quantitative features of a fish, such as its number of fins or of scales.
• meristodermA meristem layer on the surface of brown algae.
• mero-part
• merocrineOf or pertaining to certain exocrine glands that secrete without major damage to the secretory cells.
• meromeliaA birth defect characterized by the lacking of a part, but not all, of one or more limbs with the presence of a hand or foot, resulting in a shrunken and deformed extremity.
• meromicticHaving layers of water that do not intermix.
• meronymA term used to denote a thing that is a part of something else.
• meronymyThe relationship of being a constituent part or member of something; a system of meronyms.
• meropicPartially blind.
• merycismrumination syndrome
• mesaraicmesenteric
• mesaticephalicHaving a cranium with a medium ratio of length to breadth.
• meso-Middle or centre in location/position.
• mesocarpThe middle layer of the pericarp of a fruit. In many fruits such as drupes and tomatoes, the mesocarp is fleshy
• mesodePart of a lyric or choral ode which occurs between the strophe and antistrophe.
• mesodiplosisThe repetition of terms within successive sentences
• mesohylThe gelatinous matrix within a sponge, filling the space between the external pinacoderm and the internal choanoderm.
• mesolethomsonite
• mesologyThe study of the mutual interrelationships between organisms and their environment; branch of biology; former term for ecology.
• mesophanerophyteAny phanerophyte between 8 and 30 metres in height
• mesophloeumcortex
• mesophryonglabella (the space between the eyebrows and nose)
• MesoreThe twelfth and last month of the later ancient Egyptian civil calendar and Coptic calendar, corresponding to the fourth and last month of the season of Shemu. Since 25 BCE, when the calendar was reformed to include leap-days, Mesore has been in roughly August.
• mesosemeHaving a medium orbital index, between megaseme and microseme.
• mesostichAn acrostic that spells out a word or message with its middle letters.
• mesozeugmaA zeugma where the governing word occurs in the middle of the sentence and governs clauses on either side.
• MessapianA member of the ancient inhabitants of the region of Apulia in Southern Italy.
• MesseneAn ancient Greek city in the southwest Peloponnesus and new capital of the region of Messenia.