Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/met-

This Proto-Indo-European entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Indo-European

Etymology

Part of the same group of roots as *meh₁- (“to measure”), *med- (“to estimate, judge”), possibly also *meh₂- (“to grow, mature”), *medʰi- (“middle, between”), *meǵ-h₂- (“great, big”), all with a sense of "measurement, estimation > size, distance, amount".

Root

*met-

2. to cut (by measure) (with an inherent sense of by measurement or time: "to cut down" > "to mow"; "to cut into" > "plow")

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *met- (3 c, 0 e)

• *met-eti
  • Proto-Celtic: *meteti
  • Proto-Italic: *metō
    • Latin: metō
• *met-el-
  • Proto-Celtic: *metelā (“reapers (collective)”)
    • Proto-Brythonic: *medel
    • Middle Irish: methel
      • Irish: meitheal
• *met-l̥-yom (possibly) (with secondary collective suffix *-yom)
  • Ancient Greek: μέταλλον (métallon, “mine, quarry”) (quarries generally require measured cutting)
• *mot-i-
  • Proto-Italic:
    • Latin: mateola (“wooden hammer or agricultural implement”)
  • Proto-Germanic: *maþilō (“plough”)
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic:
    • Proto-Slavic: *motỳka (“hoe”)
• *mot-né-
  • Proto-Germanic: *mattukaz (“ploughshare, mattock”)