mezzisahs
Old High German
Alternative forms
- mezzeres, mezzirahs, mazsahs
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *matisahs (“food knife”). Equivalent to maz + sahs.
The compound was obscured at an early time, within the Old High German period, which suggests frequent use. The original mezzisahs is first reduced to mazsahs. The form containing -r- then appears still in the Old High German period, as mezzirahs which via mezzarehs, mezziras, mezzeres becomes mezzer. Middle High German has mezzer virtually exclusively; but compare a 12th-century Rhenish mezsehs, whence r-less forms in contemporary Central Franconian (see Metz, Mäß).
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