Etymograph

English

marvel

Marvel comes from Middle English merveile ‘One's recollection or recounting of a marvel’, from Old French merveille ‘a wonder’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mey- ‘to laugh, to be glad’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mey-1‘to laugh, to be glad’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sméyros2‘laughing, smiling’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*smeiros2reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrus1‘wonderful’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīror1‘to wonder at’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrābilis1‘strange, wonderful’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneuter1plural of mīrābilis
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrābilia1‘wonderful things’
  9. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*miribilia1reconstructed
  10. Old Frenchc. 842–1400merveille1‘a wonder’
  11. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500merveile1‘One's recollection or recounting of a marvel’
  12. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593marvel1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English marvel
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin mirus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “I maruell that her Grace did leaue it out.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mey-Wiktionary, English marvel‘to laugh, to be glad’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sméyrosWiktionary, Latin mirus‘laughing, smiling’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*smeirosWiktionary, Latin mirusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrusWiktionary, English marvel‘wonderful’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrorWiktionary, English marvel‘to wonder at’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrābilisWiktionary, English marvel‘strange, wonderful’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneuterWiktionary, English marvelplural of mīrābilis
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīrābiliaWiktionary, English marvel‘wonderful things’
  9. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*miribiliaWiktionary, English marvelreconstructed
  10. Old Frenchc. 842–1400merveilleWiktionary, English marvel‘a wonder’
  11. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500merveileWiktionary, English marvel‘One's recollection or recounting of a marvel’
  12. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593marvelWiktionary, English marvel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “I maruell that her Grace did leaue it out.”

first attested First attested from 1300, from Middle English merveile, from Old French merveille (“a wonder”), from Vulgar Latin *miribilia, from Latin mīrābilia (“wonderful things”), from neuter plural of mīrābilis (“strange, wonderful”), from mīror (“to wonder at”), from mīrus (“wonderful”) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested from 1300, from Middle English merveile, from Old French merveille (‘a wonder’), from Vulgar Latin *miribilia, from Latin mīrābilia (‘wonderful things’), from neuter plural of mīrābilis (‘strange, wonderful’), from mīror (‘to wonder at’), from mīrus (‘wonderful’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin mīror ‘to wonder at’

mirror, miracle, admire, admirable, mirage, mirador, 6 more

through Latin mīrābilis ‘strange, wonderful’

mirabilis, 4 more

through Latin neuter

force, neutral, mandate, menstrual, coliseum, neuter, colosseum, rapunzel, legate, cabeza, cadenza, 11 more

Today it means

noun That which causes wonder; a prodigy; a portent.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “marvel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mirus. 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 *(s)mey- / marvel

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