English
blackmail
Blackmail comes from English mail ‘a piece of money’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-‘to measure’root as named
- English1500–presentmail‘a piece of money’
- Englishtodayblackmail
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-‘to measure’root as named
- English1500–presentmail‘a piece of money’
- Englishtodayblackmail
The story
The word is variously derived from the tribute paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to border reivers in return for immunity from raids and other harassment. This tribute was paid in goods or labour, in Latin reditus nigri (‘black mail’); the opposite is blanche firmes or reditus albi (‘white rent’), denoting payment by silver. McKay derives it from two Scottish Gaelic words blàthaich, pronounced (the th silent) bl-aich, "to protect" and màl (‘tribute, payment’). He notes that the practice was common in the Scottish Highlands as well as the Borders.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’
must, medical, model, modern, medicine, mode, mood, medication, mud, meditation, module, med, remedy, modification, mold, medicinal, mould, medic, meditate, modulation, modal, modus, modulus, modicum, mote, modulate, mete, modulo, modifiable, 31 more
Today it means
noun The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *med- / blackmail