English
Mac
Mac comes from English Macintosh.
- English1500–presentMacintosh
- Englishearliest quotation 1987Mac
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- English1500–presentMacintosh
- Englishearliest quotation 1987Mac
Earliest quotation: 1987, InfoWorld: “Although our Macs served us well, in those early,…”
A compound of mac ‘son’ + an + tòisiche ‘chief, leader’
Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ḱ- ‘to raise, increase’
Proto-Celtic *makʷos ‘son’
Proto-Celtic *makkʷos
Primitive Irish ᚋᚐᚊᚔ
Old Irish macc ‘son’
Middle Irish mac ‘son’
Scottish Gaelic mac ‘son’
Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ḱ- ‘to raise, increase’
Proto-Celtic *makʷos ‘son’
Proto-Celtic *makkʷos
Primitive Irish ᚋᚐᚊᚔ
Old Irish macc ‘son’
Middle Irish mac ‘son’
Scottish Gaelic mac ‘son’
Scottish Gaelic an
Proto-Celtic *towissus ‘leadership’
Proto-Celtic *towissākos ‘leader’
Primitive Irish ᚈᚑᚃᚔᚄᚐᚉᚔ
Old Irish toísech
Scottish Gaelic tòisiche ‘chief, leader’
The story
Informal diminutive of Macintosh, later adopted by Apple as a trademark.
Every English word from English Macintosh
Today it means
noun A Macintosh computer (made by Apple Inc.).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English Macintosh / Mac