Where does “mud” come from?

Mud comes from Middle Dutch modde, from Latin modus, from Proto-Indo-European mū-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European med-.

mud (English): A mixture of water and soil or fine grained...

Definitions

  1. A mixture of water and soil or fine grained...

Ancestry of “mud”, step by step

mud traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English mode

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishmodeActivity within one's mind or brain; A person's...
2Old Frenchmode—
3Latinmodusmeasure
4Proto-Indo-Europeanmēd-to measure
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmed-to measure; to give advice; healing

via Middle English mud

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmud—
2Middle Dutchmodde—
3Proto-Germanicmud-—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanmū-fly, mosquito; fly, midge; lips, muzzle

via Middle English mudde

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmudde—
2Middle Low Germanmudde—
3Proto-Germanicmudra-mud
Every word from Proto-Indo-European med- →