Where does “mackerel” come from?
Mackerel comes from Old French maquerel, derived from Latin macula, which traces back to Proto-Indo-European smeh₁-.
mackerel (English): An edible fish of the family Scombridae, often...
Definitions
- An edible fish of the family Scombridae, often...
Ancestry of “mackerel”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | makerel | — |
| 2 | Old French | maquerel | mackerel |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | makelare | — |
| 4 | Low German | maken | To make |
| 5 | Middle Low German | māken | — |
| 6 | Old Saxon | makōn | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | makōn | to build, work, make |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | makaz | fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | maǵ- | to oil, knead; to knead, oil |
Words derived from “mackerel”