Where does “merlin” come from?
merlin (Middle English) comes from Middle Low German marling, from Middle Dutch marlijn, from Middle Dutch marlen, from Dutch maren, from Middle Dutch maren, from Old Dutch māren, from Proto-West Germanic mārijan, from Proto-Germanic mērijaną — he, she.
Ancestry of “merlin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle Low German | marling | — |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | marlijn | cord |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | marlen | secure, fasten |
| 4 | Dutch | maren | to announce, to make known; to say "but", to... |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | maren | to moor |
| 6 | Old Dutch | māren | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | mārijan | to praise, proclaim, celebrate |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | mērijaną | to praise, proclaim, celebrate |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 12 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |