Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “meschief” come from?

meschief (Middle English) comes from Old French meschief, from Old French meschever, from Old French mes, from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie, from French magie, from Middle French magie.

meschief (Middle English): Alternative form of myschef

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of myschef

Ancestry of “meschief”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmeschiefmisfortune; mishap; evil deed, wrong
2Old Frenchmescheverto fail; to make a mistake; to suffer a...
3Old Frenchmesbut; my
4Latinmagismore; more greatly; better
5Dutchmagischmagical, controlled or determined by supernatural...
6Dutchmagiemagic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences...
7Frenchmagiemagic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;...
8Middle Frenchmagie—
9Latinmagīa—
10Ancient Greekμαγεία—
11Ancient GreekΜάγοςmagician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,...
12Old Persian𐎶𐎦𐏁priest
13Proto-Iranianmagúš—
14Proto-Indo-Iranianmagʰúš—
15Proto-Indo-Europeanmegʰ-ú-s—

Words derived from “meschief”

  • mischief
  • mischiefmaking
  • mischiefful
Every word from Proto-Indo-European megʰ-ú-s →