Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “meatpacking” come from?

Meatpacking is a compound of English meat (from Middle English mete, from Latin meta) and English -ing (from Middle English -ing), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European meh₂d- meaning to measure or distribute.

meatpacking (English): The slaughter and further processing of animals...

Definitions

  1. The slaughter and further processing of animals...

Ancestry of “meatpacking”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishpackingpresent participle of pack; The action of the...
2EnglishpackA bundle made up and prepared to be carried;...
3Middle EnglishpakkenTo pack; to put into a pack or container; To...
4Middle English-enDenotes the past participle form when attached to...
5Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
6Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
7Proto-Norse-īna-—
8Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
9Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
10Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →