Where does “meager” come from?
Meager comes from Middle English megre, from Anglo-Norman megre, from Latin macer meaning thin or lean, from Proto-Indo-European meh₂ḱ- meaning to be thin.
meager (English): Having little flesh; lean; thin; Poor, deficient...
Definitions
- Having little flesh; lean; thin; Poor, deficient...
Ancestry of “meager”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | megre | Lean, haggard; suffering the physical effects of... |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | megre | — |
| 3 | Old French | maigre | — |
| 4 | Latin | Macer | — |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | makros | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | mh₂ḱrós | lean, meager |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | meh₂ḱ- | to raise, increase; long |
Words derived from “meager”