Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “mais” come from?

mais (French) comes from Old French mais, from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie, from French magie, from Middle French magie, from Latin magīa, from Ancient Greek μαγεία — to be able.

mais (French): corn, maize

Definitions

  1. corn, maize

Ancestry of “mais”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmaisbut
2Latinmagismore; more greatly; better
3Dutchmagischmagical, controlled or determined by supernatural...
4Dutchmagiemagic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences...
5Frenchmagiemagic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;...
6Middle Frenchmagie—
7Latinmagīa—
8Ancient Greekμαγεία—
9Ancient GreekΜάγοςmagician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,...
10Old Persian𐎶𐎦𐏁priest
11Proto-Iranianmagúš—
12Proto-Indo-Iranianmagʰúš—
13Proto-Indo-Europeanmegʰ-ú-s—
14Proto-Indo-Europeanmegʰ-to be able

Words derived from “mais”

  • maïs éclaté
  • maïs
Every word from Proto-Indo-European megʰ- →