Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “peiren” come from?

peiren (Middle English) comes from Middle English apeiren, from Old French empeirier, from Late Latin peioro, from Latin peior, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.

Ancestry of “peiren”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishapeirendamage; perish
2Old Frenchempeirier—
3Late LatinpeioroI make worse; I aggravate
4Latinpeiorworse
5Latinmalusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;...
6Ancient Greekμηλέα—
7Ancient Greekμῆλονapple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast
8Proto-Indo-European(s)meh₁l-small animal”; small animal
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →