Etymograph

English

amadou

Amadou comes from French amadou ‘tinder, lure, bait’, from amadouer ‘to allure, caress’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- ‘to drip, to ooze, to wet’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂d-1‘to drip, to ooze, to wet’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*matiz2‘food’uncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350matr2‘food’uncertain
  4. Icelandicmodernmatur3‘food’uncertain
  5. Icelandicmodernmata4‘to feed’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentamadouer4‘to allure, caress’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentamadou4‘tinder, lure, bait’
  8. Englishtodayamadou4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *matiz, which cites Pokorny, Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Icelandic matur
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Icelandic mata
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English amadou

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂d-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *matiz, which cites Pokorny, Kroonen‘to drip, to ooze, to wet’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*matizWiktionary, Icelandic matur‘food’uncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350matrWiktionary, Icelandic matur‘food’uncertain
  4. IcelandicmodernmaturWiktionary, Icelandic mata‘food’uncertain
  5. IcelandicmodernmataWiktionary, English amadou‘to feed’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentamadouerWiktionary, English amadou‘to allure, caress’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentamadouWiktionary, English amadou‘tinder, lure, bait’
  8. EnglishtodayamadouWiktionary, English amadou

The story

From French amadou (‘tinder, lure, bait’), from amadouer (‘to allure, caress’), perhaps from Icelandic mata (‘to feed’), which is akin to English meat.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- ‘to drip, to ooze, to wet’

meet, mod, moot, meatless, 11 more

through Proto-Germanic *matiz ‘food’

meat, mate, 4 more

Today it means

noun A spongy, flammable substance prepared from bracket fungi, formerly used as a styptic and as tinder.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amadou”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *matiz, Icelandic matur, Icelandic mata. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- / amadou

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