Etymograph

English

murage

Murage comes from Middle English murage ‘a tax for the maintenance of town walls’, from Latin murus ‘wall, city wall(s),’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to fix, to build fortifications or fences’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘to fix, to build fortifications or fences’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*moyros1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moiros1‘wall’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmurus2‘wall, city wall(s),’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500murage2‘a tax for the maintenance of town walls’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1726murage2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin murus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English murage
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or: “They pay no Toll for Goods which they have…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, Latin murus‘to fix, to build fortifications or fences’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*moyrosWiktionary, Latin murusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moirosWiktionary, Latin murus‘wall’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmurusWiktionary, English murage‘wall, city wall(s),’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500murageWiktionary, English murage‘a tax for the maintenance of town walls’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1726murageWiktionary, English murage. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or: “They pay no Toll for Goods which they have…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to fix, to build fortifications or fences’

mean, common, community, met, minister, minute, commission, ministry, minor, mess, communication, meal, min, commit, menu, compromise, missile, communist, mere, communicate, mutual, minus, immune, dismiss, premise, ammunition, immunity, mole, communism, municipality, ammo, communal, mayhem, noodle, communion, intermittent, moor, commune, mite, omit, 76 more

through Latin murus ‘wall, city wall(s),’

mural, 9 more

Today it means

noun A tax paid for building or repairing the walls of a fortified town.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “murage”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin murus. 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- / murage

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