Where does “mai” come from?
mai (Old Occitan) comes from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie, from French magie, from Middle French magie, from Latin magīa, from Ancient Greek μαγεία, from Ancient Greek Μάγος — to be able.
Ancestry of “mai”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | magis | more; more greatly; better |
| 2 | Dutch | magisch | magical, controlled or determined by supernatural... |
| 3 | Dutch | magie | magic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences... |
| 4 | French | magie | magic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;... |
| 5 | Middle French | magie | — |
| 6 | Latin | magīa | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | μαγεία | — |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | Μάγος | magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,... |
| 9 | Old Persian | 𐎶𐎦𐏁 | priest |
| 10 | Proto-Iranian | magúš | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | magʰúš | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ-ú-s | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ- | to be able |