Staff M of the English Wordbook.
Basic abbreviations:
- OE = Old English
- ME = Middle English
- SC = Scots
- WF = West Frish
- NF = North Frish
- SF = Saterlandish Frish
- WLG = West Low Theech
- ELG = East Low Theech
- NL = Netherlandish
- NHG = New High Theech
- IC = Icelandish
- HIC = High Icelandish
- NO = Nornish
- SW = Swedish
- DN = Danish
- MLG = Middle Low Theech
- MNL = Middle Netherlandish
- MHG = Middle High Theech
- OF = Old Frish
- OS = Old Saxish
- OHG = Old High Theech
- ON = Old Norse
- GO = Gottish
- PWG = Or-West-Theedish
- PG = Or-Theedish
For a full list of etymological and other abbreviations used in these wordlists, see: Offshortenings.
| Chancery English | Class | Anglish/English | ||
| Attested | Unattested | |||
| macabre | adj | gruesome | - | |
| macerate | vb | soak, steep | - | |
| machine | n |
vehicle: horseless, wheels slang |
gearware, searshaft, workware, workrig | |
| magazine | n | - | timewrit (cf. Du. tijdschrift, NHG Zeitschrift) | |
| magic | n | bad: spellcraft, witchcraft |
dwimmer, galder (<OE galdor) | |
| magician | n | wizard, witch | hag, dwimmerman | |
| magistrate | n | deemer, deemster(Female) | reeve | |
| magnesium oxide | n | - | bitter earth | |
| magnate | n | - | mickman | |
| magnet | n | - | sailstone (cf. Ic. segull) Lodestone: lode (ME guide) + stone | |
| magnitude | n | weight; hugeness; bulk | - | |
| magnolia | n | - | beaverbloom | |
| maggot | n | worm, grub | mathe (<OE maþa; cf. Scots mathe) | |
| mail (armor) | n | - | mesh, burne (<ME) | |
| maim | vb | cripple | - | |
| maintain | vb | keep up, uphold | - | |
| maintenance | n | upkeep | - | |
| maître d'hôtel | n | - | houserede | |
| majestic | adj | high-flown, lofty | hovely | |
| majesty | n | highness, lordship |
oreworthness (<OE arweorþnes), douthness, thrim (<OE þrymm), kineship (<OE cynescipe) | |
| major | n | overling | thane | |
| major | adj | higher, overling | - | |
| majority | n | - | morehood | |
| maladjusted | adj | misfit | - | |
| malady | n | sickness, illness | addle, cothe | |
| malapert | adj | brazen | unbeshamed (cf. Du. onbeschaamd) | |
| male | adj |
manly, manlike; pref: he- |
he-kind, hesome | |
| male | n | buck, chap, fellow, lad state: manhood |
-werman (O.E wermann) | |
| malefactor | n | sinner, wrongdoer: crook, lawbreaker | - | |
| malevolence | n | hatefulness, meanness | - | |
| malevolent | adj | bad, mean | - | |
| malfeasance | n | misdoing, wrongdoing | - | |
| malfunction | n | flaw, glitch | - | |
| malfunction | vb | misbehave | miswork | |
| malice | n | cattiness, hatefulness, meanness | nithecraft | |
| malicious | adj | - | nithe | |
| malign | adj | - | nithe | |
| malnourish | vb | misfeed, underfeed | - | |
| maltose | n | - | maltsweet | |
| maltreat | vb |
manhandle, rough up |
illbrook | |
| malware | n | - | badware, evilware | |
| mammal | n | - | milkwight, suckledeer | |
| mammary | n | breast, tit | - | |
| manage | vb | hondle, run, deal with, fare, keep, keep up | - | |
| manager | n | foreman | besteerer (cf. Dn. bestyrer) | |
| mandrake | n | - | skinroot | |
| mandrill | n | - | hueleer ape, rainbow ape, huemug ape | |
| manga | n | - | dawnlandish talestrips | |
| manger | n | trough | - | |
| mangrove | n | - | shrubmarsh; tree: loftroot | |
| mania | n | madness | - | |
| maniac | adj | mad, crazy | - | |
| manifest(ed) | adj | bald, ringing, straightforward | swettle (<OE sweotol) | |
| manifest | vb | bespeak, give away | swettle, betoken | |
| manifestation | n | swettling, betokening | ||
| manifesto | n | - | swettling | |
| manner | n | way | lund | |
| mansion | n | - | hireyard (cf. Sw. herrgård) hire = mister | |
| mansuetude | adj | tameness, mildness | - | |
| manta | n | - | flatfish | |
| mantis | n | - | beadbug | |
| mantle | n | wrap; hood, shroud | - | |
| manual | n | handbook | - | |
| manual | adj | handly | - | |
| manually | adv | by hand | - | |
| manufacture | vb | frame, beframe, make up, think up | - | |
| manure | n | dung | - | |
| manuscript | n | handwrit | - | |
| map | n | - | mete (<OE metan: to measure "to scale") landsheet (cf. Ic. landakort) | |
| marble | n | - | Shinestone (Greek) | |
| march | n/vb | headway, onrish; stride | - | |
| March | n | - |
Miremonth, Rethmonth (<OE Hreðmonað) | |
| marijuana | n | hash, hemp street talk: grass, weed |
- | |
| marine | adj | sea-, mer(e)- | - | |
| marine park | n | - | water-frith | |
| maritime | adj | sealike | - | |
| marjoram | n | - | kingswort (<OE cyningeswyrt) | |
| market | n | - | chepstow (town on the Welsh border) | |
| marquess | n | - | athelman | |
| marriage | n | wedding, handfast, wedlock | gathership (<OE gaderscipe) | |
| marry | vb | wed | - | |
| marsupial | n | - | pungdeer (cf. Dn. pungdyr) | |
| martyr | n | - | bloot (<OE (ge)blot, 'sacrifice'), rood-bearer, cyther (<OE cyðere), witness (Gr. martyreo means 'I witness, I tell about'; Ar. also uses same root for witness and martyr) | |
| martial art(s) | n | - | wyecraft(s) | |
| marvel | n/vb | wonder, wilder | - | |
| marvelous | adj | wonderful, wulderly, selcouth | - | |
| mask | n/vb | hide | mesh | |
| masochism | n | achelove, achelust | - | |
| masochist | n | seeksorrow, achelover, acheluster | - | |
| mason | n | - | stonewright | |
| masonry | n | stonecraft, stonework | - | |
| masque | n | - | meshplay | |
| masquerade | n | - | meshtumb | |
| mass | n | bulk, inweight | - | |
| massacre | n | slaughter | - | |
| masticate | vb | chew | - | |
| master | n | head | reve | |
| masturbate | vb | Frig (OE: frygian (“to rub, caress”)) | - | |
| match | n |
game, tie, head-to-head; mate, fellow; twin, lookalike; light (stick) |
- | |
| material | adj | weighty | bodilike | |
| maternal | adj | motherly | - | |
| mathematics | n | - | telcraft, scorelore, reckonlore | |
| matrimony | n | wedlock | - | |
| matter | n | - | andwork (<OE andweorc), inting (<OE intinga) | |
| mature | adj | grown, ripe | - | |
| maximum | n/adj | uttermost, utmost | - | |
| May | n | - | Threemilk month, (<OE Þrimeolce, Þrimilcemonað), Merrymonth | |
| mayhem | n | crippling | - | |
| mayonnaise | n | yolkdip | - | |
| mayor | n | burgomaster (C.F Dutch) | boroughreve, townreve | |
| measure | n/vb | - | mete (<OE met), meal (<OE mǣl) | |
| mechanics | n | - | workcraft (<OE weorccræft) | |
| mediate | vb | - | formiddle (cf. NHG vermitteln) | |
| mediate | adj | halfway, midmost | - | |
| mediator | n | - | formiddler, makefrith, middleman | |
| medicine | n | healing | leechwort, leechdom (field of.), leechcraft (field of.), leechlore (field of.) | |
| medieval | adj | - | middle eld | |
| mediocre | adj | middling, halfway | - | |
| meditate | vb | - |
hedge, huy (<OE hycgan) sin/sun (<OE sinnan) 'sun' by analogy to 'run' - <OE rinnan to avoid, negative connotation with "sin") smigh (<OE smeagan) smy (<OE smean) threed (<OE þreodian) forsink (calque of NHG versenken, senken "to lower" being a causative form of sinken "to sink" akin to OE sencan) | |
| Mediterranean Sea | n | - | Wendlesea (<Vandal seafarers) | |
| medium | adj | - | evenspan, midbulky | |
| mega- | p
fx |
- | mickle (<OE micel) | |
| megalopolis | n | - | mickleborough | |
| megaphone | n | bullhorn, loudhailer | - | |
| meiosis | n | - | frumecleaving | |
| melancholy | adj | dreary, heartbreaking, heartrending, mournful, saddening, teary; cast down, down in the-mouth, forlorn, gloomy, woebegone | - | |
| melee | n | tussle | - | |
| melody | n | - | gleestaff (<OE gliwstæf) lin (OE hlynian; cf. Ic. hljómr) | |
| melon | n | - | rindberry, shellberry, barkberry | |
| member | n | limb, fellow, belonger, link | belongand | |
| membrane | n | film | - | |
| memory | n | mind's eye, mind's ear | eftminding, bemindings, inmind | |
| meningitis | n | - | brimshell addle | |
| menstrual | adj | monthly | - | |
| menstruate | vb | monthbleed | moonbleed | |
| mental | adj | mindly, inward, mindlike | - | |
| mentality | n | mindset | - | |
| mention | vb | name, speak of, say something of, bring up, hint at | - | |
| menu | n | - | walelist | |
| mercenary | n | - | hireling | |
| merchant | n | chapman, trader | - | |
| merchandise | n | wares, goods, stocks | - | |
| merchandising | n | - | (direct to public): delling | |
| merciful | adj | forgiving, mildhearted | - | |
| merciless | adj | - | ruthless | |
| mercy | n | kindness, ruth | milts (<OE) | |
| merge | vb | blend, meld | - | |
| meridian | n | high noon, high-water line | - | |
| merit | n | meed, worth | theen, winst (cf. Du. winst) | |
| Mesolithic | n | - | Middle Stoneseldth | |
| Mesopotamia | n | - | Bearithland (shortening of bear 'fertile' + rith 'stream')Twixtrith (meso = between) | |
| meson | n | - | midmote | |
| message | n | earful, tiding, wire, word | errandwrit, boding, errandbook (<OE ǽrendbóc) | |
| metal | n | - | blome (<OE blóma), orestuff | |
| metamorphosis | n | - | forwandling (cf. NHG Verwandlung) | |
| metaphor | n | - | kenning | |
| meteor | n | falling star, shooting star | strealer | |
| meter (poetry) | n | - | tale (<OE getæl 'rhythm, harmony') | |
| methane | n | - | firedamp | |
| method | n | way, means | thewline, shedding (cf. OE gescéad) | |
| metropolis | n | - | mickleborough | |
| mezozoicum | n | - | midlife eldth | |
| micro- | pref | small- | - | |
| microscope | n | - | speckseer | |
| Midgard | n | - | Midgarth | |
| migrate | vb | - | outwander (cf. NHG auswandern) | |
| militarist(ic) | n/adj | hawk(ish) | - | |
| military | n/adj | landmight(ly) | campdom, expedition: axfaring (<OE æxfaru) | |
| militia | n | - | folkward | |
| millennium | n | - | thousandyear | |
| million | n | - | micklered (<OE mycel 'much, great' cognate to Gk. megas, "mega-" being the SI prefix for "million" + '-red, as in 'hundred') | |
| mince | vb | - | hack | |
| mine | n | - | delf: explosive: stillblaster | |
| mine | vb | delve | - | |
| mineral | n | ore | - | |
| minimize | vb | lessen | - | |
| minister | n | - | rede, ambighter | |
| minstrel | n | gleeman, folksinger | - | |
| minor | adj | - | youngling | |
| minority | n | - | lesserness | |
| minotaur | n | - | mazebull | |
| minute | n | - | mete, shortlog (cf. Latin minuta 'short note') | |
| miracle | n | flash, wonder | craftwork (<Ic.), wonderwork | |
| mirror | n | looking-glass | - | |
| misandrist | n | man-hater | - | |
| miscellany(eous) | n/adj | clatter, jumble, kitchen-sink, mishmash, mixed | sundry | |
| misdemeanour | n | wrongdoing | - | |
| miser | n | tightwad, skinflint, niggard | - | |
| miserable | adj | black, bleak, cheerless, dark, forlorn, glum, godforsaken, grey, sullen; downcast, hangdog, woeful; wreatched; ratty, run-down, threadbear | yomer (<OE geomor) | |
| misery | n | distress, weakness |
armth (<OE iermðu) wanshaft (<OE wansceaft) unlithe (<OE unlæþu) unseel (<OE unsælþ) wearing (<OE weargung) | |
| misfortune | n | mishap | wanluck | |
| mismanage | vb | mishandle | - | |
| misogynist | n | - | woman-hater | |
| misotheism | n | - | mistroth | |
| misplace | vb | mislay | misstead, mis-stead | |
| missile | n | - | warp | |
| mission | n | errand, undertaking, goal | - | |
| missionary | n | sendling, errander | winfridsman, winfridster, winfridingman cf. Saint Boniface | |
| mitigate | vb | soften | - | |
| mitochondrium | n | - | mightcorn | |
| mitosis | n | - | brickdealing | |
| mobile (phone) | n | handset, handcaller | handblower | |
| mock | vb/adj | man-made, sham; send up | - | |
| model | n | - | pattern: forelay (cf. NHG Vorlage) dummy, forebeing | |
| modern | adj | newfangled | nowtide (cf. Sw. nutida), nowalike | |
| modernise | vb | - | benew | |
| modest | adj | down-to-earth, meek | cush (<OE cúsc) | |
| modify | vb | - | wend, andwend | |
| modulation | n | - | stringbending
(music): wavebending | |
| moist | adj | damp, wet | - | |
| molar | n | - | wongtooth (<OE wangtoð) grindtooth (<OE grindetoð) | |
| mold | vb | build, make, shape | - | |
| moment | n | eyeblinck, flash, heartbeat, twinkling |
nutlog, eyeblinck, flash, heartbeat, twinkling | |
| monarch | n | - | onewleld (<OE anwealda), self-reder | |
| monarchism | n | kingdom | self-reding | |
| monarchy | n | - | sunderwield (<OE sundoranweald), self-rede kineship | |
| monastery | n | bedestow | ||
| monasticism | n | - | brotherlife | |
| money | n |
fee, geld, brass, mint, silver, sterling, penny, tradeworth slang: kale, dough, buck |
- | |
| monitor | vb | watch, oversee | - | |
| monk | n | - | brother (<OE), lonelord | |
| monologue | n | - | lonespeech | |
| monster | n | fiend; dreadnaught | nicker (<OE nicor) | |
| Montenegro | n | - | Blackhill, Blackberg | |
| monument | n | keepsake, token; gravestone, headstone | thinktoken (cf. W.Fr. tinkteken) | |
| monumental | adj | overwhelming | awe-inblowing | |
| moor | n | heath | - | |
| moral | adj | - | sidely, sideful (OE sideful), thewfast (<OE geþéawfæst), thewful | |
| morality | n | uprightness | sideliness, thewfastness, douthness | |
| morbid | adj | cheerless, forlorn | - | |
| mordant | adj | biting | - | |
| morgue | n | deadhouse | - | |
| moribund | adj | dying, deathbound | - | |
| mortal | n/adj | deadly | deathling | |
| mortality | n | death, end, ending, endless sleep, forthfaring, bane, Grim Reaper | - | |
| mortgage | n | wadset, homeloan | - | |
| mother nature | n | - | Lady Lund, motherkin | |
| mortuary | n | - | deadhouse, undertaker's, bodyroom, bodyhouse | |
| mosaic | n | - | shardbild | |
| mosquito | n | gnat, midge, midgy | bloodfly | |
| moth (native) | n | - | nightflinder (cf. NHG Nachtfalter) | |
| motion | n | - | shrithing | |
| motionless | adj | stock-still | - | |
| motive | n | - |
rethe, frume ulterior: hinderthought (cf. NHG Hintergedanke) | |
| motor | n | - | wheels, drivework | |
| motorcycle | n | - | halfwain, halfwagon | |
| motorway | n | highway | - | |
| mound | n | drift; heap; highland, rise, upland | - | |
| mount | n | hill | barrow, berry | |
| mountain | n | highberg | - | |
| moustache | n | kemp | overbeard, snor (cf. Du. "snor", NHG "Schnurrbart"), gran (<OE "granu") | |
| move | vb |
shift; drive; stir; sway; set off; |
shrithe/shrothe (<OE scriþan 'to go, take one's way) wade (through water; Scots: of the sun or moon through clouds or mist) beway (NHG bewegen) | |
| movement | n | shift, stir; drive | shrithing | |
| movie | n | film, flick | - | |
| Mr, Sir | n | Lord |
Hire (<OE hearra) | |
| Mrs, Miss | n | Lady |
Frow (<OE frówe) | |
| mucus | n | slime, snot | - | |
| muffle | vb | shroud | - | |
| multiculturalism | n | - | felemenning (cf. Ic. fjölmenning) | |
| multiple | adj | many, manifold | - | |
| multiply | vb | manifold | - | |
| multi- | pref | cluster-, mani- | fele- (<OE fela-), fay (<OE fag fah brightly multicoloured) | |
| multi-language word | n | wanderword | - | |
| multi-purpose | adj | all-in-one | - | |
| multitude | n | crowd, throng, flock, folk, cluster, wave, mow, manifoldness | - | |
| mummy | n | - | linwrapped body | |
| municipality | n | - | meanth (cf. NHG Gemeinde) | |
| muscle | n | brawn, thew, sinew | - | |
| muscular | n | brawny, thewy, sinewy, thewsome | - | |
| muse | vb | mimmer/mammer | - | |
| museum | n | - | crafthall, yorehall | |
| mushroom | n | toadstool | mosswort, mosswamb | |
| music | n | glee |
swin, swincraft (<OE geswin "song" + craft) gleamlist (cf. Ic hljómlist) | |
| musical | adj | - | songly, gleamwise (cf. Ic hljómvís) | |
| musician | n | gleeman, player, songwright |
swinsmith, dreamer (<OE dreamere) | |
| musicology | n | - | swinlore, gleelore | |
| muster | n/vb | gather(ing) | fay | |
| mutate | vb | - | shrithe, yondshape, wandle | |
| mute | adj | dumb, hushed, speechless | - | |
| mutilate | n/vb | - | overcripple | |
| mutton | n | sheepflesh | - | |
| mutual | adj | evenway | - | |
| mycelium | n | - | net (cf. Ic neti), swambnet | |
| mystery | n | wonder, brain twister, beyond man's ken, hidden thing | rune (<PG) ghost-wonder (cf. OE gástgeryne) hiddle, mist hearing | |
| myth | n | dreamtale | mith (shortening of mist + th) | |
| mythology | n | folklore, dreamlore | mistlore | |