Etymograph

English

mix

Mix comes from Middle English mixen, from Old English *mixian, from Proto-West Germanic *miskijan ‘to mix’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ- ‘to mix’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyǵ-1‘to mix’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*miḱ-sḱé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miskijan1‘to mix’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mixian1reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mixen1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591mix1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mix
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyǵ-Wiktionary, English mix‘to mix’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*miḱ-sḱé-tiWiktionary, English mixreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*miskijanWiktionary, English mix‘to mix’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mixianWiktionary, English mixreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mixenWiktionary, English mix
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591mixWiktionary, English mix. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to…”

The story

From Middle English mixen (attested in past tense as mixed, myxyd), from Old English *mixian, miscian, from Proto-West Germanic *miskijan, from Proto-West Germanic *miskijan (‘to mix’), from Proto-Indo-European *miḱ-sḱé-ti, from *meyǵ-, *meyḱ- (‘to mix’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ- ‘to mix’

mash, 7 more

Today it means

verb To stir together.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mix”. 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 *meyǵ- / mix

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