Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/meduz

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Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/meduz

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *médʰu. Cognate with Sanskrit मधु (madhu), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬜𐬎‎ (maδu), Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈme.ðuz/

Noun

*meduz m[1][2]

1. intoxicating drink
2. mead

Inflection

u-stemDeclension of *meduz (u-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*meduz	*midiwiz
vocative	*medu	*midiwiz
accusative	*medų	*medunz
genitive	*medauz	*midiwǫ̂
dative	*midiwi	*medumaz
instrumental	*medū	*medumiz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *medu
  • Old English: medu, medo, meodo
    • Middle English: mede, methe (influenced by Old Norse mjǫðr)
      • English: mead
      • Scots: mede, meid
  • Old Frisian: mede
    • Saterland Frisian: Meede
    • West Frisian: mea
  • Old Saxon: medu
    • Middle Low German: mēde, medde
      • Low German: Mia (Westphalian dialects)
  • Old Dutch: *medu
    • Middle Dutch: mēde
      • Dutch: mede, mee
  • Old High German: metu
    • Middle High German: mete, met
      • German: Met
• Old Norse: mjǫðr
  • Icelandic: mjöður
  • Faroese: mjøður
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mjød; (dialectal) mjør, mjøyr’e
  • Westrobothnian: mjø
  • Old Swedish: miödher, mioþer
    • Swedish: mjöd
  • Old Danish: mioth, miøth, møth
    • Danish: mjød
      • Norwegian Bokmål: mjød
• →? Proto-Finnic: *metu (see there for further descendants)
• →? Ancient Greek: μέδος (médos)
• →? Hunnic: μέδος (médos, “beverage akin to mead”)
• → Latin: mēdus

References

1. Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*medu-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 361
2. Orel, Vladimir (2003), “*međuz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 265