Where does “mais” come from?
mais (Indo-Portuguese) comes from Portuguese máis, from Old Portuguese mais, from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie, from French magie, from Middle French magie, from Latin magīa — to be able.
mais (Indo-Portuguese): more
Ancestry of “mais”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | máis | Obsolete spelling of mais |
| 2 | Old Portuguese | mais | more |
| 3 | Latin | magis | more; more greatly; better |
| 4 | Dutch | magisch | magical, controlled or determined by supernatural... |
| 5 | Dutch | magie | magic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences... |
| 6 | French | magie | magic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;... |
| 7 | Middle French | magie | — |
| 8 | Latin | magīa | — |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | μαγεία | — |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | Μάγος | magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,... |
| 11 | Old Persian | 𐎶𐎦𐏁 | priest |
| 12 | Proto-Iranian | magúš | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | magʰúš | — |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ-ú-s | — |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ- | to be able |