Etymograph

English

mitta

Mitta may come from Proto-West Germanic *metan ‘to measure’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *med-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-1‘to measure’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*metaną2‘to measure’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*metan3‘to measure’uncertain
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1866mitta3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *metaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *metan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English mitta
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: “Once the mitta, or mett, a quantity of two…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *metaną‘to measure’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*metanąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *metan‘to measure’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*metanWiktionary, English mitta‘to measure’uncertain
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1866mittaWiktionary, English mitta. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: “Once the mitta, or mett, a quantity of two…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’

must, medical, model, modern, medicine, mode, mood, medication, mud, module, med, remedy, modification, mold, meditation, medicinal, mould, blackmail, medic, modulation, modal, modus, meditate, modulus, modulate, modicum, mote, modulo, modifiable, 29 more

through Proto-West Germanic *metan ‘to measure’

mete

Today it means

noun An old English measure of volume, perhaps equal to two bushels.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mitta”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *metaną, Proto-West Germanic *metan. 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 *med- / mitta

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