English
masker
Masker comes from Middle English *maskeren.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*maskerenreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1659masker
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*maskerenreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1659masker
Earliest quotation: 1659, Titus Livius [i.e., (please specify the book number): “To masker their troubled heads the more, hee assaileth…”
The story
From Middle English *maskeren, malskren (‘to bewilder’) (compare Middle English bimalscren (‘to bewitch’)), from Old English *malscrian (attested in derivative malscrung (‘enchantment, charm’)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *malskaz (‘haughty’), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (‘to beat, crush, grind’).
Every English word from Middle English *maskeren
Today it means
verb To render giddy or senseless
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English *maskeren / masker