English
Mithra
Mithra comes from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mitrás ‘covenant’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘to attach, bind, strengthen’literally ‘to bind’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*mitrás‘covenant’literally ‘(that which) causes binding’reconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1991Mithra
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘to attach, bind, strengthen’literally ‘to bind’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*mitrás‘covenant’literally ‘(that which) causes binding’reconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1991Mithra
Earliest quotation: 1991, Robert Schilling, Roman and European Mythologies: “The cult of Mithra had been spread by soldiers…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’
mean, common, community, met, minister, minute, commission, communication, mess, meal, ministry, minor, communist, menu, mutual, communicate, immune, mere, min, compromise, missile, commit, communism, ammunition, minus, immunity, communal, mole, dismiss, premise, communion, municipality, ammo, mayhem, noodle, moor, commune, mural, remuneration, intermittent, 79 more
through Proto-Indo-Iranian *mitrás ‘covenant’
Today it means
name A particular divinity (yazata) in Zoroastrianism and later Iranian history and culture, the hypostasis of "contract", "oath".
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / Mithra