Where does “mager” come from?

mager (Danish) comes from German Magier, from German Magie, from Latin magīa, from Ancient Greek μαγεία, from Ancient Greek Μάγος, from Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐏁, from Proto-Iranian magúš, from Proto-Indo-Iranian magʰúš — to be able.

mager (Danish): lean; thin, spare, skinny, scrawny; poor, meagre

Definitions

  1. lean; thin, spare, skinny, scrawny; poor, meagre

Ancestry of “mager”, step by step

mager traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Magier

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanMagiermage, magician
2GermanMagiemagic
3Latinmagīamagic, sorcery
4Ancient Greekμαγείαtheology of the Magians
5Ancient GreekΜάγοςmagician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,...
6Old Persian𐎶𐎦𐏁priest
7Proto-Iranianmagúš
8Proto-Indo-Iranianmagʰúš
9Proto-Indo-Europeanmegʰ-ú-s
10Proto-Indo-Europeanmegʰ-to be able

via Old Danish maghær

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Danishmaghær
2Old Norsemágra male relative by marriage (kin to one’s spouse or spouse to one’s kin); son-in-law, father-in-law or brother-in-law
3Proto-Germanicmagrazlean, meager
4Proto-Indo-Europeanmh₂ḱróslean, meager
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmeh₂ḱ-to raise, increase; long

Words derived from “mager

Every word from Proto-Indo-European megʰ-
mager — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer