Thursday, September 20

'Meade' etymology

Well, I know 'Meade' comes from 'Meath' (reminder: pronounced the same, with a 'd' sound), but where does 'Meath' come from? Any chance it has a Proto-Indo-European root (since I'm back into PIE these days)?

Meath (/ˈmð/Old IrishMide IPA: [ˈmʲiðʲe]; spelt Midhe in Modern Irish) was a medieval kingdom in Ireland for over 1,000 years. Its name means "middle", denoting the fact that it lay in the middle of the island. Kingdom of Meath


mid (prep., adj.) Look up mid at Dictionary.com
O.E. mid "with, in conjunction with, in company with, together with, among," from P.Gmc. *medjaz (cf. O.N. miðr, O.S. middi, O.Fris. midde, O.H.G. mitti, Goth. midjis"mid, middle"), from PIE *medhyo- "middle" (see medial (adj.)). Online Etymology Dictionary


Sure enough: from PIE (*medhyo-) down through the Celtic side of the Indo-European family to Old Irish

:-)