Etymograph

English

measly

Measly may come from Middle Dutch masel ‘a blister filled with blood’.

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500masel1‘a blister filled with blood’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1847measly1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English measly
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1847, William Youatt, The Pig: A Treatise on the Breeds: “Then take five or six apples, pick out the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500maselWiktionary, English measly‘a blister filled with blood’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1847measlyWiktionary, English measly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1847, William Youatt, The Pig: A Treatise on the Breeds: “Then take five or six apples, pick out the…”

Formed from measle ‘singular of measles’ + -y

Proto-Italic *misseros

Latin miser ‘wretched, sick’

Latin misellus ‘wretched", "unfortunate’

Old French mesel ‘leprous’

Middle English mesel ‘Leprosy’

English measle

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *masuraz ‘a knot or scar in wood’

maple

Today it means

adj Particularly of pigs or pork: infected with larval tapeworms or trichinae (parasitic roundworms).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “measly”. 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 / Middle Dutch masel / measly

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