English
mathom
Mathom comes from Old English māþum ‘treasure, object of value, jewel, ornament, gift’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*maiþmaz‘present, gift’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150māþum‘treasure, object of value, jewel, ornament, gift’
- Englishearliest quotation 1989mathom
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*maiþmaz‘present, gift’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150māþum‘treasure, object of value, jewel, ornament, gift’
- Englishearliest quotation 1989mathom
Earliest quotation: 1989, Lewis Turco: “When the door of the mathom shop is closed…”
The story
Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings with the conceit that it was a translation of his invented language Adûni's kast, a word used by Hobbits as a generic name for items which they were unwilling to throw away, but for which they had no use.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to exchange, swap’
mean, community, met, minister, minute, common, commission, ministry, minor, meal, min, communication, menu, mutual, immune, missile, communist, mere, minus, compromise, ammunition, immunity, communicate, dismiss, municipality, mole, communism, mural, ammo, communal, noodle, communion, moor, mayhem, remuneration, commune, mite, minstrel, mitra, mitre, 74 more
through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’
miss, message, mess, mad, commit, premise, mute, mutant, intermittent, madden, omit, misnomer, transmutation, mutable, mutate, molt, moult, commutative, commutation, 18 more
Today it means
noun A trinket or piece of bric-a-brac; a knick-knack, often used in regifting.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- / mathom