Etymograph

English

merino

Merino comes from Spanish merino, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- ‘great’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meǵh₂-1‘great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂yōs1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*majjōs1reconstructed
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500maiōr2
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500maiōrīnus2
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentmerino3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1838merino3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin maior
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Spanish merino
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English merino
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Keeping up Appearances. […]: “"Oh, mamma," cried Georgiana, and the speech was heroic…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meǵh₂-Wiktionary, Latin maior‘great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂yōsWiktionary, Latin maiorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*majjōsWiktionary, Latin maiorreconstructed
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500maiōrWiktionary, Spanish merino
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500maiōrīnusWiktionary, Spanish merino
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentmerinoWiktionary, English merino
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1838merinoWiktionary, English merino. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Keeping up Appearances. […]: “"Oh, mamma," cried Georgiana, and the speech was heroic…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- ‘great’

much, magistrate, mastery, maestro, masterly, meister, magisterium, 7 more

through Proto-Italic *majjōs

majority, 5 more

through Medieval Latin maiōr

major, mayor, maggiore, 6 more

Today it means

noun A sheep of a Spanish breed with long, fine hair.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “merino”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin maior, Spanish merino. 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 *meǵh₂- / merino

Shirt and support for this word