English
macher
Macher comes from Yiddish מאַכער ‘influential person’, from מאַכן ‘to make’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *makaz ‘fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*makaz‘fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mak‘fit, suitable’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*makōn‘to make suitable’reconstructed
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050mahhōn‘to make’
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350machen‘to make’
- Yiddishmodernמאַכןmakhn‘to make’
- Yiddish, derivedmodernמאַכערmakher‘influential person’literally ‘one who makes’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005macher
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*makaz‘fit, suitable, agreeable, comfortable’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mak‘fit, suitable’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*makōn‘to make suitable’reconstructed
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050mahhōn‘to make’
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350machen‘to make’
- Yiddishmodernמאַכןmakhn‘to make’
- Yiddish, derivedmodernמאַכערmakher‘influential person’literally ‘one who makes’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005macher
Earliest quotation: 2005, August Kleinzahler, A Valentine’s: Regarding the Impractibility of Our Love: “An ordinary man doesn’t jump the Snake River Canyon…”
Linked words
through Proto-West Germanic *mak ‘fit, suitable’
through Proto-West Germanic *makōn ‘to make suitable’
Today it means
noun An important person, often in the negative sense of self-important; a bigwig.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *makaz / macher