English
Merlin
Merlin comes from Medieval Latin Merlinus, and goes back to Proto-Brythonic *Mor-ðin.
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*Mor-ðinliterally ‘sea-hill’reconstructed
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500Merlinus
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Merlyn
- Englishearliest quotation 1803Merlin
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*Mor-ðinliterally ‘sea-hill’reconstructed
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500Merlinus
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Merlyn
- Englishearliest quotation 1803Merlin
Earliest quotation: 1803, an Architect, London: […] Nichols and Son: “I NEXT paſſed into the choir; a ſcene of…”
A compound of *mori ‘sea’ + *dūnom ‘stronghold, rampart’
Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘sea, lake, wetland’
Proto-Indo-European *móri ‘sea’
Proto-Celtic *mori ‘sea’
Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to last’
Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós ‘lasting, durable’
Proto-Celtic *dūnom ‘stronghold, rampart’
Every English word from Proto-Brythonic *Mor-ðin
Today it means
name A wizard in the Arthurian legend.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Brythonic *Mor-ðin / Merlin