Etymograph

English

meed

Meed comes from Old English mēd ‘meed, reward, pay, price, compensation, bribe’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to exchange’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘to exchange’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*misdʰéh₂1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mizdō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miʀdu1‘reward’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mēd1‘meed, reward, pay, price, compensation, bribe’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meede1
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592meed1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English meed
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “[…]my meed hath got me fame:[…]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, English meed‘to exchange’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*misdʰéh₂Wiktionary, English meedreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mizdōWiktionary, English meedreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miʀduWiktionary, English meed‘reward’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mēdWiktionary, English meed‘meed, reward, pay, price, compensation, bribe’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meedeWiktionary, English meed
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592meedWiktionary, English meed. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “[…]my meed hath got me fame:[…]”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to exchange’

community, common, mean, minister, minute, commission, communication, ministry, minor, met, min, commit, communist, mutual, communicate, mess, compromise, immune, missile, meal, minus, ammunition, immunity, menu, dismiss, premise, communism, mere, municipality, communal, mole, communion, mural, ammo, mayhem, noodle, intermittent, moor, commune, remuneration, 77 more

Another origin of meed

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*misdʰ-‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mizdōną‘to reward’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miʀdōn‘to pay, reward’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mēdian‘to reward, bribe’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meden‘to reward, gift’
  6. Englishtodaymeed

Today it means

noun A payment or recompense made for services rendered or in recognition of some achievement; reward; award.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “meed”. 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 *mey- / meed

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