Etymograph

English

fistmele

Fistmele comes from English meal ‘measure’, from Proto-West Germanic *māl ‘time, occasion’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- ‘to measure’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₁-‘to measure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mēlą‘time, occasion’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*māl‘time, occasion’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mæl‘a measure’
  5. English1500–presentmeal‘measure’
  6. Englishtodayfistmelevariant of meal

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₁-‘to measure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mēlą‘time, occasion’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*māl‘time, occasion’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mæl‘a measure’
  5. English1500–presentmeal‘measure’
  6. Englishtodayfistmelevariant of meal

A compound of fist + mele

Proto-West Germanic *fūsti

Old English fȳst

Middle English fist

English fist

Hawaiian mele

English mele

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- ‘to measure’

month, moon, measure, moral, sunny, dimensional, meter, dimension, moody, immense, metric, metre, meta, mesa, menstrual, asymmetry, commensurate, madder, mensa, metrology, mete, metra, moodiness, menses, metis, firman, 62 more

through Proto-West Germanic *māl ‘time, occasion’

piecemeal

through Old English mæl ‘a measure’

meal, 1 more

Today it means

noun A traditional unit of distance equal to the width of a clenched fist with the thumb extended (approx. 6½ inches or 16½ centimetres).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- / fistmele

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