Etymograph

English

madrier

Madrier comes from French madrier ‘thick plank’, and goes back to Latin materia ‘source, origin’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmateria1‘source, origin’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmaterium1
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500madier1
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentmadrier2‘thick plank’
  5. Englishtodaymadrier2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French madrier
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English madrier

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmateriaWiktionary, French madrier‘source, origin’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmateriumWiktionary, French madrier
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500madierWiktionary, French madrier
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentmadrierWiktionary, English madrier‘thick plank’
  5. EnglishtodaymadrierWiktionary, English madrier

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr ‘mother’

mother, mat, metra, 17 more

through Latin māter ‘mother, at least in the sense of 'source'’

matrix, maternal, maternity, mater, matron, 11 more

through Latin materia ‘source, origin’

matter, material, materiel, materia

Today it means

noun A plank to receive the mouth of a petard, with which it is applied to anything intended to be broken down.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “madrier”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French madrier. 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 / Latin materia / madrier

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