mahnit

Albanian

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *maxnǫti (“to shake, move”), *maxati. Compare Serbo-Croatian máhnuti (“to wave”), máhati.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mahˈnit]

Verb

mahnit (aorist manita, participle mahnitur)

1. to amaze, surprise, astonish

Synonyms

• habit, çudit, mërej

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Uncertain. A derivation has been suggested from Ottoman Turkish معند (muʼannit) (ultimately active participle of form II from the Arabic root ع ن د (ʕ-n-d)), or less likely from Greek μάνητα (mánita, “madness”), both of which, however, would leave the h in the word unexplained. To supply this deficiency, influence from native máhati (“to wave”), mȃh (“swing, wave, sweep”) has been proposed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mǎxnit/
• Hyphenation: mah‧nit

Adjective

màhnit (Cyrillic spelling ма̀хнит)

1. frantic, crazed, frenzied, raging [15th century]
2. crazy in general, mad, insane
3. foolhardy, crazily brave
4. (+ za) crazy for something or someone; enthusiastic about, desirous for, or in love with to an extreme degree
5. (of dogs) rabid, afflicted with rabies

Alternative forms

• mànit (colloquial)

References

• “mahnit”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024
• Pero Budmani, Tomislav Maretić, editor (1904–1910), “màhnit”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika‎^[1] (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 6, Zagreb: JAZU, page 377