English
matins
Matins comes from Old French matines, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- ‘good, great’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-‘good, great’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400matines
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500matyns
- Englishearliest quotation 1819matins
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-‘good, great’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400matines
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500matyns
- Englishearliest quotation 1819matins
Earliest quotation: 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham pseudonym; Walter , Tales of My Landlord: “The monk must arise when the matins ring, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- ‘good, great’
most, mo, mistress, mature, maturity, mat, maduro, demure, maturation, magisterial, mañana, 21 more
Today it means
noun Together with lauds, the earliest of the canonical hours; traditionally prayed at sunrise or earlier.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- / matins