Introduction
The particle *me meaning "with, at, between" is probably the origin of *médʰyos: "middle"—in turn the origin of many, many words.
I wonder if *meh₁-: "to measure" and *meh₁d-: "to consider, to give advice, to heal" isn't also from *me. Germanic *midlą for example sometimes means "middle" but sometimes means "medicine, remedy". Or, in both Sardinian and Dalmatian, the Latin words medius: "middle" and mēnsus: "measured" are merged as mesu: "half".
The other PIE word for "with" *ḱom could possibly be related, possibly originating as *ḱe + me: "with that". On the other hand I'm not convinced *ḱom is even related to *ḱe, since *ḱe was originally indeclinable, and declined *o forms were a late innovation in some branches, but *ḱom appears in almost all branches. Armenian is a notable exception, lacking a direct descendant of *ḱom, but is one of the branches with form reflecting *ḱo.
Teaser
midwife,
metaphor,
method,
milliner,
Midgard,
middle,
Mesopotamia,
Euromaidan,
media,
medallion,
mean,
a.m.,
p.m.,
mediate
Full Text
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Proto-Indo-European *me with, at, between, in the middle of
- Albanian me with
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Hellenic
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Proto-Indo-European *metih₂
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Pre-Albanian *met
- Albanian mjet between, among, wall, means, tool
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Pre-Albanian *metwisa between lands
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Albanian mjedis environment, nature
- Albanian midis between, among
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Germanic *midi with, by, together
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West Germanic
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Old English mid with
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Old English midwīf midwife lit. "with-woman"
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Old High German mit with
- German mit with
- Yiddish מיט mit with
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Hellenic meta
- Mycenaean Greek 𐀕𐀲 me-ta
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Classical Greek μετά metá among, between, along with, in pursuit of, after, next
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Classical Greek μετα- participation, succession, pursuit, after, reversely, change
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Classical Greek μεταβάλλω metabállō I throw into a different position, I change suddenly, I turn around
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Classical Greek μετᾰβολή metabolḗ change, mutation, transformation
- Greek μεταβολή metavolí
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French métabolisme metabolism
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Classical Greek μεθίστημι methístēmi
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Classical Greek μετάστασις metástasis
- Greek μετάσταση metástasi
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Late Latin metastasis
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Classical Greek μεταφέρω metaphérō I carry over, I transfer, I change, I use metaphorically
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Classical Greek μεταφορά metaphorā́
- Greek μεταφορά metaforá
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Latin metaphora
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Classical Greek μετᾰμορφόω metamorphóō I transform, I disguise
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Classical Greek μετᾰμόρφωσῐς metamórphōsis
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Classical Greek μετανοέω metanoéō
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Classical Greek μέθοδος méthodos path to follow, pursuit, pursuit of knowledge, inquiry, doctrine, method, trick
- Greek μέθοδος méthodos method
- Armenian մեթոդ metʿod method
- Georgian მეთოდი metodi method
- Hebrew מֶתוֹדָה metóda method
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Latin methodus method
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French méthode method, book
- English method
- Persian متد metod
- Russian ме́тод métod method
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Classical Greek μέτοικος métoikos
- Classical Greek Μεθύδριον Methúdrion place name: Between the Waters
- Greek μετα meta- re-
- English meta-
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Classical Greek μετα ταῦτα meta taûta along with this
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Byzantine Greek μεταῦτα metaûta with compounded and haplology
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Proto-Indo-European *me-dʰe- placed with?
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Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos
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Pre-Albanian *medza
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Old Armenian մէջ mēǰ middle, inside
- Armenian մեջ meǰ inside, among
- Georgian მიჯნა miǯna boundary, border
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Balto-Slavic *medjas boundary, border, no man's land
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East Baltic
- Latvian mežs forest
- Lithuanian mẽdis tree, wood
- Lithuanian mẽdžias forest dialectal
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West Baltic
- Old Prussian median forest
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Slavic *meďà border, boundary, uncultivated space between fields
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East Slavic межа́ mežá
- Russian межа́ mežá boundary, margin, abutment
- Ukrainian межа́ mežá boundary, border, limit, frontier
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South Slavic
- Bulgarian междá meždá boundary between fields
- Serbo-Croatian мѐђа mèđa border, boundary, landmark
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West Slavic
- Czech mez limit
- Polish miedza uncultivated space between fields, border
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Slavic *meďu between, among from the locative dual of *meďà
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East Slavic *mežu
- Russian меж mež between, among
- Ukrainian між miž between, among
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South Slavic
- Bulgarian между́ meždú between
- Serbo-Croatian ме̏ђу mȅđu between, among
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West Slavic
- Czech mezi between, among
- Polish między between
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Celtic *medyos middle
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Brythonic
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Old Irish mide middle, center
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Gaulish
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Gaulish *Medyolānom place name: Central Plain
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Latin Mediolānum
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Vulgar Latin *Meiolano
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Central Romance
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Old High German Meilān
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Germanic *midjaz middle
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East Germanic
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Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃 midjis middle
- Albanian midis between, among
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North Germanic
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Old Norse miðr middle
- Icelandic miður middle
- Swedish mid- mid-
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Germanic *midjagardaz the middle enclosure, the world, Midgard
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East Germanic
- Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌿𐌽𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 midjungards the inhabited world, ecumene
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North Germanic
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Old Norse Miðgarðr the Earth, Midgard, the inhabited world
- Danish Midgård
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Icelandic Miðgarður
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West Germanic
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Old English Middanġeard the world, the inhabited world
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Old English Middaneard the world, the inhabited world
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Germanic *midj(ą/ǭ) middle, center noun
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North Germanic
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Old Norse miðja center, middle
- Icelandic miðja center, middle
- Swedish midja waist
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West Germanic
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Old English midd
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Old High German mitti middle
- German Mitte middle, center
- Yiddish מיט mit middle
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Germanic *midlą middle, means diminutive noun
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North Germanic
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Old Norse meðal means, medicine
- Icelandic meðal medicine, drug, means
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West Germanic
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Old English middel
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Old High German mittil
- German Mittel agent, appliance, means, remedy, median
- Yiddish מיטל mitl means, resources, middle
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Hellenic *métsos
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Classical Greek μέσος mésos between, half, moderate
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Classical Greek Μεσοποταμίᾱ Mesopotamíā
- English meso-
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Illyrian metu- between, among
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Illyrian Metubarbis place name: Among the Swamp
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Indo-Iranian *mádʰyas middle
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Dardic
- Kashmiri مَنٛز manz inside of, among, between
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Indo-Aryan
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Sanskrit 𑀫𑀥𑁆𑀬 mádhya middle, center
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Magadhi 𑀫𑀚𑁆𑀛 majjha
- Pali 𑀫𑀚𑁆𑀛 majjha
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Sauraseni 𑀫𑀚𑁆𑀛 majjha
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Madhya Sauraseni
- Hindi में mẽ in, within, into, during, between
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Pahari
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Punjabi ਮੰਝ mañjh middle
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Punjabi ਮਾਝਾ Mājjhā place name: Central (Punjab), Majha
- Hindi मध्य madhya
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Javanese ꦩꦢꦾ madya middle, medium, waist
- Punjabi ਮੱਧ maddh
- Telugu మధ్య madhya middle, central
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Sanskrit madhyāhna midday, noon
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Magadhi
- Bengali মধ্যাহ্ন môdhẏahnô midday, noon
- Telugu మధ్యాహ్నము madhyāhnamu midday, noon
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Iranian *mádyah middle
- Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬜𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬌 maiδiiāi at the center locative
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Northern Iranian
- Pashto ملا mla waist
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Iranian *mádyanah middle, waist noun
- Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬜𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬥𐬀 maiδiiāna
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Northern Iranian
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Western Iranian
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Northwestern Iranian
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Parthian 𐫖𐫅𐫏𐫀𐫗 maẟyān
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Arabic ميدان maydān open space, public square, battlefield, field of study
- Armenian մեյդան meydan public square
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Persian میدان meydân plaza, public square, field
- Georgian მოედანი moedani arena, plaza, public square
- Hindi मैदान maidān park, lawn, sports field
- Telugu మైదానము maidānamu court, field, meadow
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Ottoman Turkish میدان meydân
- Turkish meydan public square, plaza, open space
- Armenian մեյդան meydan public square
- Romanian maidan open space
- Serbo-Croatian мѐјда̄н mèjdān public square, field, public exposition
- Serbo-Croatian мѐгда̄н mègdān battlefield, dueling ground, duel, battle, competition
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Kipchak
- Russian майда́н majdán public square
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Ukrainian майда́н majdán public square
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Ukrainian Євромайда́н Jevromajdán Euromaidan
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Old Persian *madyānaʰ
- Persian میان miyân middle, center
- Elamite 𒈠𒋾𒂊𒈾 ma-ti-e-na
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Nuristani *máǰa
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Italic *meðjos
- Oscan 𐌌𐌄𐌚𐌉𐌞 mefiú
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Latin medius middle, half, moderate
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Central Romance
- Dalmatian mesu middle, half with influence from mēnsus: "measured"
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Italian mezzo half, middle, means, method, vehicle
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Eastern Romance
- Romanian miez core, heart, pulp
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Insular Romance
- Sardinian mesu half with influence from mēnsus: "measured"
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Western Romance
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Latin medium middle, center, medium, community, public, publicity neuter substantive
- English medium
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Latin media
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Latin mediālis of the middle, medial
- English medial
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Latin mediālia
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Vulgar Latin *medālia a thing in the middle, a half thing, esp. a half-denarius coin
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Central Romance
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Italian medaglia medal
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French médaille medal
- English medal
- Vietnamese mề đay medallion, crest
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French médaillon medallion
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Insular Romance
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Western Romance
- Spanish meaja a small coin
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Latin medi- mid-
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Western Romance
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Latin mediānus
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Central Romance
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Italian mezzano average, mean, medium, middle, mizzen
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French misaine
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Italian mezzanino mezzanine
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Western Romance
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Old Occitan mitjan middle, mizzen
- Catalan mitjana mean, average, mizzen, median strip
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French misaine
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Old French meien
- French moyen middle, average, medium, way, method, means
- English mean
- English median
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Old Irish medón middle
- Irish meán mid, central, middle, average, waist
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Latin medietās center, middle part, midpoint, half
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Central Romance
- Italian metà half, center, mid-
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Western Romance
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French moitié half, significant other
- Spanish mitad half
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Latin *dimidietās
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Eastern Romance
- Romanian jumătate half possibly influenced by unrelated Pre-Albanian *jūmatjā: half"
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Latin *medī-diēs mid-day
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Latin merīdiēs midday, noon, south dissimilation of 'd'
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Central Romance
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Eastern Romance
- Romanian meriză palce where cattle rest at noon
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Latin ante meridiem before noon
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Latin post meridiem after noon
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Latin merīdiānus relating to midday, southern
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French méridien relating to midday, meridian
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Latin mediterrāneus inland, surrounded by land
- French méditerrané inland
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Latin Mare Mediterrāneum place name: Sea in the Middle of the Land
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English Mediterranean Sea
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Italian Mar Mediterraneo
- Italian mediterraneo mediterranean
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Latin mediocris middling, moderate, ordinary, mediocre, tolerable
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New Latin mediaevus a middle age
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New Latin mediaevālis of a middle age, medieval
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Latin dīmidius half, halved ~"into two pieces at the middle"
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Western Romance
- Welsh dimei a halfpenny
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Latin *dimidietās
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Eastern Romance
- Romanian jumătate half possibly influenced by unrelated Pre-Albanian *jūmatjā: half"
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Latin mediāre to halve, to divide in the middle, to be in the middle
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Latin medulla marrow
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Central Romance
- Italian midolla pulp, pith, breadcrumbs
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Eastern Romance
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Western Romance
- French moelle marrow, spinal cord, pith
- English medulla
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Messapian *mess-?
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Messapian *Messapi-? place name: Between the Waters with [h₂ep-: "water"]
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Classical Greek Μεσσάπιος Messápios a Messapian
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Proto-Indo-European *medʰeros more central? comparative
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Tocharian *mäcǝre- southern
- Arshian mäcriṃ southern
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Kushean *mutruñ
- Kushean omutruññaiṣṣe southern
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Proto-Indo-European *mé-ǵʰ(s)ri at hand, near with *ǵʰes-: "hand" in the locative
- Albanian ndjerë near, at, until
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Old Armenian մերձ merj near, about
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Hellenic
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Classical Greek μέχρῐ mékhri as far as, up to, until
- Greek μέχρι méchri as far as, until
Visual
Collected English words
midwife,
metabolism,
metastasis,
metaphor,
metamorphosis,
metanoia,
method,
metic,
meta-,
Milan,
Milaner,
milliner,
Midgard,
Middle Earth,
mid,
mid-,
middle,
Mesopotamia,
meso-,
Majha,
Euromaidan,
mezzo-soprano,
mezzo,
medium,
media,
medial,
medal,
medallion,
mezzanine,
mizzen,
mean,
median,
moiety,
a.m.,
p.m.,
meridian,
Mediterranean Sea,
mediterranean,
mediocre,
medieval,
demi-,
mediate,
medulla,
Messapia,
Messapian
Footnotes