Where does “Musselburgh” come from?
Musselburgh is a blend of English burgh, a fortified town, with Latin musculus, meaning little mouse, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European muh₂s and bʰrgʰ-.
Ancestry of “Musselburgh”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | mussel | Any of several groups of bivalve shellfish with... |
| 2 | Middle English | muscle | — |
| 3 | Old English | muscle | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *muskulā | — |
| 5 | Latin | muscula | Diminutive of musca |
| 6 | Latin | mūsculus | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | μῦς | mouse; A type of mussel; A type of whale |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | *mū́s | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | múHs | mouse |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | múh₂s | mouse |