We arrive at “M”, lucky letter number 13, the midway or median point in the Latin alphabet. “M” is also the Roman numeral for 1,000. The “most powerful letter in the world”, according to those renowned linguistic authorities, BMW car manufacturers! “M”’s etymological antecedents are the Semitic mem and the Ancient Greek mu (M). M-words don’t tend to go in for half-measures, there’s a million of them and they are inclined to span the full gamut of dimensions…from “mini” or “micro” up the scale to “macro” or “maxi”.
Mabsoot: meaning>happy derivation>[Arabic/Urdu: mabsut (“happy”; “content”; “satisfied”; “extendedness”)]
Macarism: a beatitude; taking pleasure in another’s joy [Gk. makários (“happy”) + -ism]
Macaronic: muddled or mixed-up (Macaronic Latin is jumbled-up Latin) [It. maccarone (“dumpling”)]
Macerate: to emaciate (someone who fasts and becomes emaciated is a Macerator) [L. macerare (“soften by steeping and soaking”)]
Macilent: lean; excessively thin [L. macer (“meager”; “poor”)] (cf. Marcidity: “great leanness”)
Macrobiote: long-lived organism [Gk. macros (“long”; “large”) + –biota (“life”; “living”)]
Macrocephalous: having a large head [Gk. macros + -keptos, kephalē (“head”; “headed”) + -ous] (cf. Multicapitate: many-headed)
Macrology: much talk but saying little; redundancy; pleonasm [Gk. macros + logós (“talk”)]
Macropodine: of, like or pertaining to kangaroos [Macropod (“Marsupial family”) + -ine] 🦘
Macroscian: one with a long shadow; an inhabitant of polar regions [Gk. macros + -skia (“shadow”) + -an] 👤
Macrotous: (zool.) having great big ears 👂 [Gk. macros (“long”; “large”) + -ous (“ear”)]
Maculation: the act of spotting or staining [L. macula (“spot”; “stain”)]
Madefy: to moisten or make wet [L. madēre (“to be wet”) + facere (“to make, do”) (cf. Madescent: growing damp; Madid: wet; dank)
Maffick: to celebrate exuberantly and boisterously, esp for a victory [Brit. from the Siege of Mafeking in 2nd Boer War, 1899-1900]
Magnality: a great or wonderful thing; a marvel [L. magnus (“big”; “large”; “great”; “important”)]
Magnicaudate: having a long tail [L. magnus + –cauda (“tail”)]
Magniloquent: speaking in a grand or pompous style [L. magnus + loqui (“to speak”)]
Maidan: open plain; open space near a town [Pers. maidān (“town square”/“field”)]
Maicutician: midwife [origin unknown]
Mainour: stolen goods discovered on a thief’s person or in his or her possession [Old French manœuvre (“manual labour”)]
Malacophonous: soft-voiced; gently spoken [mala(?) + phōnē (“sound”; “voice”)]
Malapert: bold; forward; impudent; saucy [L. male (“badly”) + MidEng. –apert (“insolent”)]
Malfeasance: evil-doing; illegal activities, esp by a public official [L. malus- (“bad”) + -feasance (“doing”; “execution”)]
Malloseismic: suffering from frequent and severe earthquakes [Gk. mallós (?) + -seismic]
Malversation: corruption in office; corrupt administration; misconduct [L. malus (“bad”) + –vertere (“to turn”)]
Mammetry: idolatry; paganism; idols in collective sense [orig. from Arabic. Muhammad]
Mammiferous: having breasts [L. mamma (“a breast”) + Gk. –ferous (“bearing”)]
Mammothrept: spoiled child [Gk. mámmē (“grandmother”) + –tréphō (“to bring up”)]
Manal: relating to the hand [L. manus (“hand”)]
Mandament: a command or order [L. mandare (“to command”)] (cf. Mandative: of, like or pertaining to commands and government and Mandarism: government with a large bureaucracy)
Mandriarch: founder or leader of a monastic order [Gk. mandare(?) + –arch (“rule”)]
Manducate: to chew or eat [L. mandūcarē (“to chew”, “eat”)]
Manège: the art of horsemanship [It. maneggiare (“to control (a horse”;)]
Manochlous: (also Monoculus) one-eyed person [origin unknown]
Manqué: having had unfulfilled ambitions; failing to achieve expectation [L. manco (“having a crippled hand”; “lacking”; “left-handed” Manicism(?))]
Mansuetude: meekness; tameness: sweetness of temper [L. manus (“hand”) + -suescere (“to accustom”)]
Mansworn: perjured [OldEng. mān (“crime”; “guilt”; “sin”; “false oath” + -swerian (“to swear”)]
Mantology: fortune-telling [Gk. mantis (“prophet”) + -o +-logy]
Manuduction: careful guidance; leading by hand [L. manus + –ductio (“action of leading”)]
Mappemond: medieval map of the world [L. mappa (“map”) + -mundi (“world”)]
Maricolous: living in the sea [L. mar (mare) (“sea”; “ocean”) + -cola (“inhabitor”) + -ous] (cf. Marigenous: produced by the sea) 🌊
Maritodespotism: ruthless domination of one spouse by another within a marriage (usually by the husband) [L. marītus (“husband”) + –despótēs (“lord”; “master”; “owner”) +-ism]
Martymachlia: sexual arousal resulting from having others watch a sexual act being performed (a form of paraphilia) [origin unknown]
Mascaron: grotesque, frightening (usually human, sometimes chimeric) face on a door-knocker, originally to supposedly ward off evil spirits [LateLat. mascara (“mask”) + -on]
Maskirovka: (hist.) Soviet use of deception or camouflage as military stratagem [Rus. mácka (“disguise”; “mask”)]
Mattoid: (Psych.) a person displaying eccentric behaviour and mental characteristics that approach the psychotic; someone bordering between sanity and insanity [It. matto (“insane”) + -oid (“likeness or resemblance”)]
Maturescent: becoming mature [L. maturus (“ripe”) + -cent]
Matutinal: of, occurring in or relating to morning [LateLat. matutinalis (Roman goddess of morning — see following entry)]
Matutolagnia: antemeridian (am) sexual desire [L. Mātūta, (Roman goddess of morning or dawn) + Gk. –lagneía (“sexual predilection”)]
Matutolypea: getting up on the wrong side of bed; the state of being in a bad mood and easily annoyed, esp in the morning [L. Mātūta, from Gk. lúpē (“sadness, suffering, affliction”) ]
Mechanolatry: worship of machines [Gk. mēkhanikós (“pertaining to machines or contrivance, mechanic”; “ingenious”; “inventive”) + –latreía (“service”; “worship”)]
Medianic: of, like or pertaining to spiritualists, mediums and prophets (origin unknown)
Medicaster: quack doctor; “charlatan” [L. medicus (“a doctor”; “a physician “; “a surgeon”) + –aster (“little”; “petty”; “partial”; “incomplete”]
Megathermic: surviving only in tropical climates [Gk. mégas (“great”; “large”; “mighty”) + –thermal (“to heat”; “warm”)]
Mehari: a type of fast-running dromedary camel, used for racing or transportation [Arab. mahara, (“to be deft or skillful”)] 🐪
Meliorism: the belief that human progress is a real concept, improvement in the world can be made by human intervention and effort [L. melior (“better”) + -ism]
Melliloquent: speaking harmoniously or sweetly [L. mel, mellis (“honey”) + –loqui (“to speak”)] cf. Mellisonant: pleasing to the ear; sweet-sounding[L. –sonare (“to sound”)]; cf. Mellivorous: honey-eating) 🍯
Melomania: abnormal fondness for music [Gk. mélos (“musical phrase”; “melody”; “song”) + -mania] 🎵 🎶
Mendaciloquence: lying speech [L. mendācitās (“falsehood”) + -loquor (“to speak”)]
Mensal: of, like or pertaining to the dinner-table; monthly, occurring once a month [L. mensis. (“month”)]
Mercedary: a hirer, one who hires staff; pertaining to the giving or receiving of wages [L. mercēdārius (?)]
Meretricious: apparently attractive, esp in a flashy or vulgar way, but having no real value; characteristic of a prostitute [L. meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”) from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) + -trīx (“female agent”)]
Mésalliance: unsuitable marriage; marriage with a socially-inferior partner [Fr. mésallier (“to misally”)]
Mesomorph: person with a compact, muscular build [Gk. mesos (“middle” ) + -morphē (“form”; “shape”)]
Metagnostic: incomprehensible; beyond understanding [Gk. meta (“beyond”) + –gnōstós (“known”)]
Metempirical: beyond the scope of knowledge [Gk. meta (“after” or “beyond”) + –empeirikós “based on observation (of medical treatment”; “experienced”) + -al]
Methomania: morbid craving for alcohol; alcoholism [Gk. méthu, (“wine”) + -mania] (cf. Methysis: drunkenness) 🥃
Métier: profession; occupation; calling; business [OldFr. mistier, mestier (“duty”; “craft”; profession”)]
Metonym: (descriptive) name used instead of the (proper) name, as a substitute because it is close associated with it (eg, the White House for the US Presidential (POTUS) Residence/Office of the Executive [Gk. meta (“among”; “with”; “after”) + –onyma (“name”)]
Metoposcopy: foreign-telling or judgement of character divined by the lines of the forehead [Gk. meto (“measure”) + –scopéō (“examine”; “inspect”)]
Metronym: system of kinship and naming that follows the female line [Gk. mėtēr (“mother”) + -name]
Micropolis: small city [Gk. mikros (“small”) + –polis (“city”)]
Microsomatous: having a small body; small-framed [Gk. mikros + sōma (“body”)] (cf. Macrosomatous) (cf. Mignon: small and dainty)
Mien: air or look; manner; bearing [ME. demean (“ to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner”)]
Militaster: soldier without skill or ability; pretender to possess military expertise but lacks actual experience or knowledge. [L. militaris (“of soldiers”; “warlike”) + –aster)]
Milquetoast: very timid; very unassertive person [from character Caspar Milquetoast of the comic strip The Timid Soul (1920s on)…fictional name derived from US dish “milk toast”]
Minatory: threatening; having a menacing quality [L. minari (“to threaten”)]
Mimetic: imitative; of, like or pertaining to mimicry [Gk. mimos (“mime”)]
Minutious: (or Minutiose) paying undue attention to minutiae [L. Latin minutia (“thorough”; “detailed”) + -ous]
Miothermic: of, like or pertaining to temperature condition on earth at the present time [Gk. mi + -therm (“heat”) +-ic] 🔥
Mirabiliary: miracle worker [L. mīrābilis (“wonderful”; “marvelous”)] (cf. Mirabilia: wonders)
Misocainea: hatred of new ideas [Gk. miso (“hatred”; “hater”) + –kainos (“new”; “recent”)]
Misocapnic: an aversion to smoking, tobacco and its smoke [miso- + capno- (kapnós (“smoke”)] 🚭 (cf. Acapnotic: someone who doesn’t smoke; a non-smoker)
Mizmaze: labyrinth; bewilderment [miz + poss. OE. maes (“to confound”; “confuse”)]
Mnemonist: one from whose memory nothing is erased; someone who can memorise long lists of data [ Gk. mnēmē (“memory”; “a remembrance”; “record”) + -ist]
Mofussil: provincial; rural; non-urban regions [Bengali mophośśol (“to divide”; “classify”]
Moiety: each of two parts into which a thing can be divided; a part or portion (esp lesser) [L. medius (“middle”; “half”)]
Moirologist: professional mourner; a hired wailer [Gk. moîra (“fate”) + –lógos (“speech”; “oration”)]
Mollescent: softening; tending to soften [L. mollis (“soft”) + -cent]
Momus: satirist; critic [Gk. Momus (Greek myth. personification of satire and mockery)]
Mongery: the trading or trafficking of some commodity of a specific type (eg, “ironmongery”; “fishmongery”); a person who tries to stir up or spread something usually of a petty or discreditable nature (eg, “scandal-mongery”) [Gk. mánganon (“contrivance”; “means of enchantment”)]
Mononym: a person’s name consisting of the one, single word, typically a first name sans a surname [Gk. monós (“alone”; “only”; “sole”) + -name]
Monopolylogue: dramatic work in which one actor plays many roles [neologism coined from “monologue” Gk. monólogos (“speaking alone”) + –poly (“many”)]
Mopsical: short-sighted; mope-eyed; purblind; (fig.) stupid [origin unknown]
Mouchard: a police spy, esp in a Francophone country; an undercover investigator [Fr. mouche (“a fly”) + -ard] 🪰
Motherlode: (alt. Mother lode) a rich source of something; (geol.) a principal vein of an ore or mineral [L. māter + MidEng –lode (“a burden” (orig. “a way”; “a course”)
Mournival: a set of four things; (arch.) a hand of four (aces, kings, queens, knaves) in card game Gleek [MidFr mornifle (?)]
Mugwump: (hist.) dissident Republicans (1884); one who politically-neutral, aloof or independent of party politics [from Amerindian (Massachusett) “war leader”]
Mulctuary: punishable by a fine [L. mulcta (“fine”)]
Muliebrile: womanly; feminine [L. mulier (“woman”) (cf. Muliebrity: womanhood)
Multanimous: having a many-sided mind [L. multus (“many”) + –animus (“mind”)] (cf. Multeity: manifoldness; very great numerousness)
Multifarious: having great diversity; manifold [L. multi + -farius (“diverse”)]
Multiloquence: talkative; garrulous; using many words [L. multi– + –loquēns (“speaking, talking”)]
Multiparous: (of a woman) having given birth to multiple offspring [L. multi + -parere (“to give birth to”; “bring into being”)]
Multipotent: having the power to do many things [L. multi + -potis, pote (“able”)] (cf. Multivious: offering many different pathways; leading in many directions; and Multivocal: having many meanings]
Mumpsimus: adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language out of habit or obstinacy; a person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice [coined erroneously by an illiterate mass-priest in place of the correct Latin term sumpsimus…despite being corrected he stubbornly refused to change his choice of words]
Munificence: magnificent liberality in giving; bestowing great generosity [L. munus (“gift”; “duty”; “service”) + -cence]
Mussitation: murmuring; grumbling [L. mussitāre (“to mutter”)]
Mycterism: sneering; rhetorical sarcasm or irony [Gk. muktērízō, (“I sneer”) + -ism]
Myrmecoid: ant-like, resembling an ant [Gk. -myrmēk (“ants”) + -oeidēs (“oid”) / Myrmex, Gk goddess of ants] 🐜
Myrmidon: a follower or subordinate of a powerful person; one who carries out orders unquestioningly (typically unscrupulous) [Gk. Myrmidon (from Greek myth.) eponymous ancestor of the Myrmidons]
Mysophobic: someone with a pathological fear of contamination and germs; a germophobe; a compulsive hand-washer [Gk. mýsos (“pollution”; “defilement”)] + -phobia] 🦠
Mysteriosophy: system of knowledge concerning secrets and mysteries [L. mustḗrion, (“mystery”) + -sophy (“knowledge or wisdom”)]
Mythogenesis: origin of myths [Gk. mûthos (“myth”) + –génesis (“origin”; “source”; “beginning”)] (cf. Mythoclast: destroyer of myths; Mythopoeic: giving rise to myths)
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Malaxophobia: a morbid fear of seduction, love play or love games (esp in women)[Gk. malax– (?) (cf. Sarmassophobia)
Matronolagnia: an attraction to older women, esp women who have children [L. māter (“mother”) + –lagneía (“lust”)]
Microlipet: someone who gets upset about trivial stuff [micro (“small”) + ME -lippē(?) (“a little bit”(?)]
Misopolemiac: a hater of war and strife [miso (“hatred”) + pólemos (“war”)]
Misoxene: one who hates strangers [miso (“hatred”) + xénos (“stranger”)] (cf. Xenophobe)
Monomath: someone who knows all about a single subject and nothing else [Gk. monós + –máthēma (“that which is learnt”)]