Etymograph

English

makar

Makar comes from Scots makar ‘maker, creator’, from Old English macian ‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *makaz ‘fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*makaz1‘fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mak2‘fit, suitable’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*makōn3‘to make suitable’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150macian3‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500maken4‘to make or create’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500maker5‘God as creator of all’
  7. Scotsc. 1450–presentmakar6‘maker, creator’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2021makar6

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *mak
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *makōn
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English maken
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle English maker
  5. 5 Wiktionary, Scots makar
  6. 6 Wiktionary, English makar
  7. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Libby Brooks, Scotland’s new makar Kathleen Jamie: ‘Poetry is at the heart: “Could the role of makar, which at the least…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*makazWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *mak‘fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*makWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *makōn‘fit, suitable’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*makōnWiktionary, Middle English maken‘to make suitable’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150macianWiktionary, Middle English maken‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500makenWiktionary, Middle English maker‘to make or create’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500makerWiktionary, Scots makar‘God as creator of all’
  7. Scotsc. 1450–presentmakarWiktionary, English makar‘maker, creator’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2021makarWiktionary, English makar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Libby Brooks, Scotland’s new makar Kathleen Jamie: ‘Poetry is at the heart: “Could the role of makar, which at the least…”

Linked words

through Old English macian ‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’

made, make, 2 more

through Middle English maker ‘God as creator of all’

maker

Today it means

noun A poet writing in Scots.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “makar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-West Germanic *mak, Proto-West Germanic *makōn, Middle English maken, Middle English maker, Scots makar. 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-Germanic *makaz / makar

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