Where does “Moș Crăciun” come from?
Moș Crăciun (Romanian) comes from Romanian moș, from German maß, from Middle High German māz, from Old High German māza, from Pali mātu, from Proto-Germanic mētō, from Proto-Indo-European med- — to measure; to give advice; healing.
Ancestry of “Moș Crăciun”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Romanian | moș | an old man |
| 2 | German | maß | first/third-person singular preterite of messen |
| 3 | Middle High German | māz | — |
| 4 | Old High German | māza | — |
| 5 | Pali | mātu | gen/dat singular of mātar; alternative stem of... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | mētō | measure; size |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | med- | to measure; to give advice; healing |