Meillet's law

proper noun

A Common Slavic accent law, according to which Slavic words have a circumflex on the root vowel (i.e. the first syllable) if that word had a mobile accent paradigm in Proto-Slavic and Proto-Balto-Slavic, regardless of whether the root had the Balto-Slavic acute register.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. human sciencesA Common Slavic accent law, according to which Slavic words have a circumflex on the root vowel (i.e. the first syllable) if that word had a mobile accent paradigm in Proto-Slavic and Proto-Balto-Slavic, regardless of whether the root had the Balto-Slavic acute register.

Origin

Named after the French Indo-Europeanist Antoine Meillet, who discovered it.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Meillet's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Meillet's%20law

MLA

“Meillet's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Meillet's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Meillet's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Meillet's%20law.

Source: Meillet's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.