Etymograph

English

maple

Maple comes from Middle English mapel ‘tree of species Acer campestre, sole native…’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *mapulaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mapulaz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mapul1‘maple tree’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mapul1reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mapel1‘tree of species Acer campestre, sole native maple of the British Isles)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590maple1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English maple
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto I: “The vvarlike Beech, the Aſh for nothing ill, /…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mapulazWiktionary, English maplereconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mapulWiktionary, English maple‘maple tree’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mapulWiktionary, English maplereconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mapelWiktionary, English maple‘tree of species Acer campestre, sole native maple of the British Isles)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590mapleWiktionary, English maple. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto I: “The vvarlike Beech, the Aſh for nothing ill, /…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English mapel (‘tree of species Acer campestre, sole native maple of the British Isles); wood of such a tree; artistic representation of a maple leaf; a beam, pole, stake (?)’), from Old English *mapul (attested in mapulder (‘maple tree’), mapultrēow (‘maple tree’), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *mapul (‘maple tree’), from Proto-Germanic *mapulaz; further etymology uncertain, possibly from *masuraz (‘type of wood with spots or veins, such as maple or walnut’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mos- (‘skin sore’)) + *aplaz (‘apple; fruit’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl (‘apple; apple tree’)).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl ‘apple’

apple, 2 more

through Proto-Germanic *masuraz ‘type of wood with spots or veins, such as…’

measly

Today it means

noun Any member of any species of genus Acer, characterized by (usually) palmate, five-lobed leaves and winged seeds, and often grown for syrup or wood

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “maple”. 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 *mapulaz / maple

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