Where does “mesfaire” come from?
mesfaire (Old French) comes from Old French mes, from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie, from French magie, from Middle French magie, from Latin magīa, from Ancient Greek μαγεία — to be able.
mesfaire (Old French): to do wrong; to do evil
Definitions
- to do wrong; to do evil
Ancestry of “mesfaire”, step by step
mesfaire traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French mes
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | mes | but; my |
| 2 | Latin | magis | more; more greatly; better |
| 3 | Dutch | magisch | magical, controlled or determined by supernatural... |
| 4 | Dutch | magie | magic, sorcery occult woo, black or white magic, etc.; hence supernatural occurrences or phenonomena |
| 5 | French | magie | magic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;... |
| 6 | Middle French | magie | — |
| 7 | Latin | magīa | magic, sorcery |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | μαγεία | theology of the Magians |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | Μάγος | magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,... |
| 10 | Old Persian | 𐎶𐎦𐏁 | priest |
| 11 | Proto-Iranian | magúš | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | magʰúš | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ-ú-s | — |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ- | to be able |
via Old French faire
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | faire | to do |
| 2 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 3 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 4 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 5 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |