English
Martian
Martian comes from Latin Mārtius ‘of or relating to the planet Mars’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *Māwortis.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*Māwortisreconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEMāvors
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEMārs‘Mars (god of war)’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEMārtius‘of or relating to the planet Mars’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596Martian
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*Māwortisreconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEMāvors
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEMārs‘Mars (god of war)’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEMārtius‘of or relating to the planet Mars’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596Martian
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto V: “The iudges vvhich thereto ſelected vvere, / Into the…”
Formed from -an
The story
The word is cognate with Middle English marcien, marcyan, mercien (‘subject to the influence or power of the planet Mars; relating to the god Mars, that is, warlike’), Middle French martien (‘Martian’) (modern French martien), French Martien (‘imaginary inhabitant of Mars; any extraterrestrial’), Italian marziano, Latin Mārtiānus (‘Martian’), Portuguese marciano, Spanish marciano.
Every English word from Proto-Italic *Māwortis
Today it means
adj Of or relating to the planet Mars, or (science fiction) its imagined inhabitants.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *Māwortis / Martian