Where does “milkmaid” come from?
Milkmaid combines English milk with English maiden, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European h₂melǵ- meaning "to milk" and Proto-Indo-European maghu- meaning "young."
milkmaid (English): A girl or young woman who milks the cows on a...
Definitions
- A girl or young woman who milks the cows on a...
Ancestry of “milkmaid”, step by step
milkmaid traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English maid
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | maid | A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | mayde | young woman |
| 3 | English | maiden | A girl or an unmarried young woman; A female... |
| 4 | Middle English | mayden | maiden |
| 5 | Old English | mægden | girl; virgin, young unmarried woman |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | magadīn | little girl |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | -īn | Creates adjectives from nouns with the sense... |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |