Etymology Explorer › Middle High German

Where does “meinen” come from?

meinen (Middle High German) comes from Old High German meinen, from Proto-Germanic mainijaną, from Proto-Indo-European mein-.

Ancestry of “meinen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High Germanmeinento mean, think, name
2Proto-Germanicmainijanąto mean, think
3Proto-Indo-Europeanmein-—

Words derived from “meinen”

  • meinen
Every word from Proto-Indo-European mein- →