Etymograph

English

map

Map comes from Middle English mappemounde ‘world map’, and goes back to Medieval Latin mappa mundī.

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500mappa mundī1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400mapamonde1‘world map’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mappemounde1‘world map’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1956map1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English map
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, Mapping Railways from the Air: “To provide the surveys required for modernisation schemes on…”.

Lineage

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500mappa mundīWiktionary, English map
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400mapamondeWiktionary, English map‘world map’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mappemoundeWiktionary, English map‘world map’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1956mapWiktionary, English map. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, Mapping Railways from the Air: “To provide the surveys required for modernisation schemes on…”

A compound of mappa ‘napkin, cloth’ + mundus ‘world’

Proto-Semitic *manpay

Phoenician 𐤌𐤀𐤐

Latin mappa ‘napkin, cloth’

Etruscan 𐌌𐌖𐌍𐌈

Latin mundus ‘world’

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Today it means

noun A visual representation of an area, whether real or imaginary, showing the relative positions of places and other features.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “map”. 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 / Medieval Latin mappa mundī / map