Etymograph

English

mure

Mure comes from Old French murer ‘to close by a wall’, and goes back to 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 CEmūrus2‘wall’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmūrō2
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400murer2‘to close by a wall’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600murer2
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500muren2‘to enclose or surround’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599mure2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin murus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English mure
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “Th' incessant care and labour of his mind Hath…”.

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 CEmūrusWiktionary, English mure‘wall’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmūrōWiktionary, English mure
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400murerWiktionary, English mure‘to close by a wall’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600murerWiktionary, English mure
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500murenWiktionary, English mure‘to enclose or surround’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599mureWiktionary, English mure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “Th' incessant care and labour of his mind Hath…”

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, communicate, minus, mutual, dismiss, immune, mere, ammunition, immunity, mole, communism, premise, municipality, ammo, mayhem, communal, noodle, intermittent, communion, moor, mite, omit, commune, 76 more

through Latin mūrus ‘wall’

mural, 9 more

Today it means

noun wall

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mure”; 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- / mure

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