English
metrify
Metrify comes from Latin metrum ‘meter’, from Ancient Greek μέτρον ‘measure’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₁-‘to measure’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέτρον‘measure’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmetrum‘meter’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1529metrify
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₁-‘to measure’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέτρον‘measure’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmetrum‘meter’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1529metrify
Earliest quotation: a. 1529, John Skelton: “he metrified after his mynde”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- ‘to measure’
month, moon, moral, measure, meal, sunny, dimensional, dimension, moody, immense, mesa, meta, menstrual, commensurate, asymmetric, mensa, firman, moodiness, menses, mete, metis, 59 more
through Ancient Greek μέτρον ‘measure’
parameter, geometric, kilometre, symmetric, asymmetry, centimetre, metrology, metra, 39 more
through Latin metrum ‘meter’
Today it means
verb To make verse.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- / metrify