Where does “meagre” come from?
Meagre comes from Middle French maigre, from Anglo-Norman megre, from Latin macer meaning thin or lean, from Proto-Indo-European meh₂ḱ- meaning to be thin.
meagre (English): Argyrosomus regius, an edible fish of the family...
Definitions
- Argyrosomus regius, an edible fish of the family...
Ancestry of “meagre”, step by step
meagre traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English megre
| 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 | lean, skinny, meager |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | makros | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | mh₂ḱrós | lean, meager |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | meh₂ḱ- | to raise, increase; long |
via Middle French maigre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | maigre | — |