Online Etymology Dictionary

merlon: "solid part of a battlement," 1704, from Fr. merlon, from It. merlone, aug. of merlo "battlement," perhaps a contraction of mergola, dim. of L. mergae "two-pronged pitchfork."
mermaid: late 14c., mermayde, lit. "maid of the sea," from M.E. mere "sea, lake" (see mere (n.)) + maid (q.v.). O.E. had equivalent merewif (see wife). Tail-less in northern Europe; the fishy form is a medieval influence from classical sirens. A favorite sign of taverns since at least 1428. Merman is a later formation (1601).
Merovingian: 1694, from Fr. Mérovingien, from M.L. Merovingi, "descendants of Meroveus," (mythical?) ancestor of the line of Frank. kings in Gaul (c.500-752) beginning with Clovis; the name is a Latinization of O.H.G. Mar-wig "famed-fight" + Gmc. patronymic suffix -ing.
merry: O.E. myrige "pleasing, agreeable," from P.Gmc. *murgijaz, which probably originally meant "short-lasting" (cf. O.H.G. murg "short," Goth. gamaurgjan "to shorten"). Connection to "pleasure" is likely via notion of "making time fly" (cf. Ger. Kurzweil "pastime," lit. "a short time;" O.N. skemta "to amuse," from skamt, neut. of skammr "short"). The only exact cognate for meaning outside Eng. was in M.Du. (cf. M.Du. mergelijc "joyful"). For vowel evolution, see bury.
"Bot vchon enle we wolde were fyf, þe mo þe myryer." [c.1300]
The word had much wider senses in M.E., e.g. "pleasant-sounding" (of animal voices), "fine" (of weather), "handsome" (of dress), "pleasant-tasting" (of herbs). Merry-making is attested from 1714; merry-man "companion or follower of a knight, outlaw, etc." is attested from c.1386. The first record of merry-go-round is from 1729. Merry-bout "an incident of sexual intercourse" was low slang from 1780. Merry-begot "illegitimate" (adj.), "bastard" (n.) is from 1785. Merrie England (now frequently satirical or ironic) is 14c. meri ingland, originally in a broader sense of "bountiful, prosperous." Merry Monday was 16c. term for "the Monday before Shrove Tuesday" (Mardi Gras).
Merry Widow: 1907, from the Eng. title of Franz Lehar's operetta "Die Lustige Witwe" (1905). "The Lusty Widow" would have been more literal, but would have given the wrong impression in Eng. Meaning "a type of wide-brimmed hat" (popularized in the play) is attested from 1908.
merry-andrew: "a buffoon; a zany; a jack-pudding" [Johnson], originally "mountebank's assistant," 1673, from merry + masc. proper name Andrew, but there is no certain identification with an individual.
mesa: "high table land," 1759, from Sp. mesa, lit. "table," from L. mensa "table" (cf. Rum. masa, O.Fr. moise "table").
mesalliance: "marriage with a person of lower social position," 1782, from Fr. mésalliance, from pejorative prefix mes- (from L. mis-) + alliance.
mescal: 1702, "plant of the genus Agave," found in deserts of Mexico and southwestern U.S., esp. the American aloe, or maguey plant, from Mex.Sp., from Nahuatl (Aztec) mexcalli "fermented drink made from agave," from metl "agave" + ixcalli "stew."Meaning "intoxicating liquor from fermented juice of the agave" is attested from 1828. Also the name of a small desert cactus (peyote) found in northern Mexico and southern Texas.
mescaline: crystalline alkaloid, 1896, from Ger. mezcalin (1896), so called because it originally was found in the buttons that grow atop the mescal cacti (see mescal).
mesh (n.): 1540, "open space in a net," perhaps from some dial. survival of O.E. max "net," or from its cognates, M.Du. maessce, Du. maas, from P.Gmc. *mask- (cf. O.N. möskvi, Dan. maske, Swed. maska, O.H.G. masca, Ger. masche "mesh"), from PIE base *mezg- "to knit, plait, twist" (cf. Lith. mezgu "to knit," mazgas "knot"). The verb is first recorded 1532, in the fig. sense of "to entangle."
meshuga: "mad, crazy, stupid," 1892, from Heb. meshugga, part. of shagag "to go astray, wander." The adj. has forms meshugener, meshugenah before a noun.
mesmerize: 1829 from mesmerism, borrowed 1802 from Fr. mesmérisme, named for Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Austrian physician who developed a theory of animal magnetism and a mysterious body fluid which allows one person to hypnotize another. Transf. sense of "enthrall" is first attested 1862. Mesmerism is attested from 1802.
Mesopotamia: ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Gk. mesopotamia (khora), lit. "the country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" + potamos "river" (see petition). In 19c. the word was used in the sense of "anything which gives irrational or inexplicable comfort to the hearer," based on the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she "found great support in that comfortable word Mesopotamia" ["Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable," 1870]. The place was called Mespot (1917) by British soldiers serving there in World War I.
Mesozoic: 1840, from Gk. mesos "middle" + zoe "life." Name coined by British geologist John Phillips for the fossil era "between" the Paleozoic and the Cenozoic.
mesquite: "type of N.Amer. shrub of the pea family," 1759, from Mex.Sp. mezquite, from Nahuatl (Aztec) mizquitl.
mess: c.1300, "food for one meal, pottage," from O.Fr. mes "portion of food, course at dinner," from L.L. missus "course at dinner," lit. "placing, putting (on a table, etc.)," from mittere "to put, place," from L. mittere "to send, let go" (see mission). Sense of "mixed food" led to contemptuous use for "jumble, mixed mass" (1828), and figurative sense of "state of confusion" (1834), as well as "condition of untidiness" (1851). Meaning "communal eating place"(esp. a military one) is first attested 1536, from earlier sense of "company of persons eating together" (c.1420), originally a group of four. Messy "untidy" is attested from 1843. To mess with "interfere, get involved" is from 1903; mess up "make a mistake, get in trouble" is from 1933, both orig. Amer.Eng. colloquial.
message: c.1300, "communication transmitted via a messenger," from O.Fr. message, from M.L. missaticum, from L. missus, pp. of mittere "to send." The L. word is glossed in O.E. by ærende. Specific religious sense of "divinely inspired communication via a prophet" (1546) let to transf. sense of "the broad meaning (of something)," first attested 1828. To get the message "understand" is from 1964.
Messalina: "scheming and licentious woman," 1887, in ref. to Valeria Messalina, notorious third wife of Rom. emperor Claudius.
messenger: early 13c., messager, from O.Fr. messagier, from message (see message). With parasitic -n- inserted by c.1300 for no apparent reason except that people liked to say it that way (cf. passenger, harbinger, scavenger).
Messerschmitt: type of Ger. warplane, 1940, from name of Willy Messerschmitt (1898-1978), Ger. aircraft designer.
messiah: c.1300, Messias, from L.L. Messias, from Gk. Messias, from Aramaic meshiha and Heb. mashiah "anointed" (of the Lord), from mashah "anoint." This is the word rendered in Septuagint as Gk. Khristos (see Christ). In O.T. prophetic writing, it was used of an expected deliverer of the Jewish nation. The modern Eng. form represents an attempt to make the word look more Heb., and dates from the Geneva Bible (1560). Transf. sense of "an expected liberator or savior of a captive people" is attested from 1666.
messuage: legal term for "dwelling," late 14c., from Anglo-L. (late 13c.), from Anglo-Fr. messuage, which probably is a clerical error for mesnage (see menage). Originally the portion of land set aside for a dwelling-house and outbuildings, whether occupied by them or not; later chiefly in ref. to the house and buildings and the attached land.
mestizo: c.1588, from Sp. mestizo "of mixed European and Amerindian parentage," from L.L. mixticius "mixed, mongrel," from L. mixtus "mixed," pp. of miscere "to mix, mingle" (see mix). Fem. form mestiza is attested from c.1582.
Met: 1896, slang for "member of the New York Metropolitan Base-Ball Club."
meta-: prefix meaning 1. "after, behind," 2. "changed, altered," 3. "higher, beyond," from Gk. meta (prep.) "in the midst of, among, with, after," from PIE *me- "in the middle" (cf. Goth. miþ, O.E. mið "with, together with, among," see mid). Notion of "changing places with" probably led to senses "change of place, order, or nature," which was the principal meaning of the Gk. word when used as a prefix. Third sense, "higher, beyond," is due to misinterpretation of metaphysics (q.v.) as "transcending physical science."
metabolism: in physiology sense, 1878, from Fr. métabolisme, from Gk. metabole "change," from metaballein "to change," from meta- "over" + ballein "to throw" (see ballistics). Metabolic is first attested 1845 in this sense, from Ger. metabolisch (1839). The word is attested from 1743 with the lit. sense of "involving change."
metal: c.1300, from O.Fr. metal, from L. metallum "metal, mine, quarry, mineral, what is got by mining," from Gk. metallon "metal, ore," originally "mine, quarry, pit," probably from metalleuein "to mine, to quarry," of unknown origin, but related somehow to metallan "to seek after." Metallic is first recorded 1560s, from Gk. metallikos.
metallurgy: 1704, from Gk. metallourgos "worker in metal," from metallon "metal" (see metal) + ergon "work" (see urge (v.)).
metamorphosis: 1533, "change of form or shape, especially by witchcraft," from L., from Gk. metamorphosis "a transforming," from metamorphoun "to transform," from meta- "change" (see meta-) + morphe "form" (see morphine). Metamorphic, in geological sense, is first attested 1833, in Lyell; rocks whose form has been changed by heat or pressure.
metaphor: 1533, from M.Fr. metaphore, from L. metaphora, from Gk. metaphora "a transfer," especially of the sense of one word to a different word, lit. "a carrying over," from metapherein "transfer, carry over," from meta- "over, across" (see meta-) + pherein "to carry, bear" (see infer).
metaphysics: late 14c., "branch of speculation which deals with the first causes of things," from M.L. metaphysica, neut. pl. of Medieval Gk. (ta) metaphysika, from Gk. ta meta ta physika "the (works) after the Physics," title of the 13 treatises which traditionally were arranged after those on physics and natural sciences in Aristotle's writings. The name was given c.70 B.C.E. by Andronicus of Rhodes, and was a ref. to the customary ordering of the books, but it was misinterpreted by L. writers as meaning "the science of what is beyond the physical." Hence, metaphysical came to be used in the sense of "abstract, speculative" (e.g. by Johnson, who applied it to certain 17c. poets, notably Donne and Cowley, who used "witty conceits" and abstruse imagery). The word originally was used in English in the singular; plural form predominated after 17c., but singular made a comeback late 19c. in certain usages under German influence.
metastasis: 1577, from Gk. metastasis "transference, removal, change," from methistanai "to remove, change," from meta- "over, across" (see meta-) + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). A rhetorical term in L.L. for "a sudden transition in subjects," medical use for "shift of disease from one part of the body to another" dates from 1663 in Eng. Metastasize formed 1907.
metathesis: 1608, "rhetorical transposition of words," from L.L., from Gk. metathesis "change of position, transposition," from stem of metatithenai "to transpose," from meta- "to change" (see meta-) + tithenai "to place, set," from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious). Of letters within a word, from 1660.
mete (v.): O.E. metan "to measure" (class V strong verb; past tense mæt, pp. meten), from P.Gmc. *metanan (cf. O.Fris., O.N. meta, Du. meten, Ger. messen, Goth. mitan "to measure"), probably ultimately from the same PIE base as meter. Only used now with out.
mete (n.): "boundary," now only in phrase metes and bounds, 1471, from O.Fr. mete, from L. meta "goal, boundary."
metempsychosis: 1590, from L.L., from Gk. metempsychosis, from meta "change" + en "in" + psyche "soul." Pythagorean word for trans-migration of souls at death.
meteor: 1471, "any atmospheric phenomenon," from M.Fr. meteore (13c.), from M.L. meteorum (nom. meteora), from Gk. ta meteora "the celestial phenomena," pl. of meteoron, lit. "thing high up," neut. of meteoros (adj.) "high up," from meta- "over, beyond" (see meta-) + -aoros "lifted, hovering in air," related to aeirein "to raise" (see aorta). Specific sense of "fireball, shooting star" is attested from 1593. Atmospheric phenomena were formerly classified as aerial meteors (wind), aqueous meteors (rain, snow, hail), luminous meteors (aurora, rainbows), and igneous meteors (lightning, shooting stars). Meteoric in the figurative sense of "transiently brilliant" is from 1836.
meteorite: "rock that falls to earth, after streaking across the sky as a meteor," formed in Eng. 1824.
meteoroid: "rock floating in space, which becomes a meteor when it enters Earth's atmosphere," formed in Eng. 1865.
meteorology: 1570 (implied in meteorological), "science of the atmosphere, weather forecasting," from Gk. meteorologia "treatise on celestial phenomena," from meteoron (see meteor) + -logia "treatment of."
meter (1): "poetic measure," O.E. meter, from L. metrum, from Gk. metron "meter, measure," from PIE base *me- "measure" (see meter (2)). Possibly reborrowed early 14c. (after a 300-year gap in recorded use) from O.Fr. metre, with specific sense of "metrical scheme in verse," from L. metrum.
meter (2): "unit of length," 1797, from Fr. mètre, from Gk. metron "measure," from PIE base *me- "measure" (cf. Gk. metra "lot, portion," Skt. mati "measures," matra "measure," Avestan, O.Pers. ma-, L. metri "to measure"). Developed by Fr. Academy of Sciences for system of weights and measures based on a decimal system originated 1670 by Fr. clergyman Gabriel Mouton. Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the length of a quadrant of the meridian.
meter (3): "device for measuring," abstracted 1832 from gas-meter, etc., from Fr. -mètre, used in combinations, from L. metrum "measure" or cognate Gk. metron "measure" (see meter (2)). Meter maid first recorded 1957.
methadone: 1947, generic designation for 6-dimethylamino-4, 4-diphenyl-3-heptanone.
methamphetamine: 1949, from meth(yl) + amphetamine (q.v.); so called because it was a methyl derivative of amphetamine.
methane: 1868, coined from meth(yl) + chemical suffix -ane.
methanol: "methyl alcohol," 1894 (adopted in international scientific community in 1892), from meth(yl) + -ol, suffix denoting "alcohol."
methaqualone: hypnotic sedative drug, 1961, from meth(o)- + connecting particle -a- + qu(in)a(zo)lone.
Methedrine: 1939, proprietary name of a brand of methamphetamine (by Wellcome Ltd.); slang abbreviation meth is attested from 1967.