English
shelfmate
Shelfmate comes from Proto-Germanic *matiz ‘food’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- ‘to be wet, to become wet’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂d-‘to be wet, to become wet’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*matiz‘food’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*matjôreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gamatjôreconstructed
- Old Saxonc. 800–1200gimato
- Englishearliest quotation 2017shelfmate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂d-‘to be wet, to become wet’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*matiz‘food’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*matjôreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gamatjôreconstructed
- Old Saxonc. 800–1200gimato
- Englishearliest quotation 2017shelfmate
Earliest quotation: 2017, Stuart Fortey, The Diva in the Duck Pond: “Roger pushed in a book that was protruding beyond…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- ‘to be wet, to become wet’
meet, mod, moot, meatless, 12 more
through Proto-Germanic *matiz ‘food’
through Proto-Germanic *matjô
Today it means
noun A book or other object located on the same shelf.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- / shelfmate