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Origin and history of Mitchell

Mitchell

surname (and later male given name), attested by c. 1200, from the common pronunciation of Michael and from Middle English michel "big" (see mickle). In the earliest records it is not always possible to tell which.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to Mitchell

Michael

masc. proper name, also the name of an archangel, from Late Latin Michael (source of French Michel, Spanish Miguel), from Greek Mikhael, from Hebrew Mikha-el, literally "Who is like God?" The modern form of the name was a learned form in Middle English, where the common form was Michel (also Mihhal, Mighel, etc.), from Old French. The surname Mitchell might be from the old pronunciation of Michael or in some cases it might be from Old English mycel "big."

mickle(adj., n.)

"great, large; much, abundant; a great deal," a dialectal survival of Old English micel, mycel "great, intense, big, long, much, many," from Proto-Germanic *mekilaz (source also of Old Saxon mikil, Old Norse mikill, Old High German mihhil, Gothic mikils), from PIE root *meg- "great." Its main modern form is much (q.v.); the common Middle English form was muchel. The phonetic development of the dialectal survival is obscure and might reflect Old Norse influence. Related: Mickleness. Middle English had muchel-what (pron.) "many various things."

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    are new and that they justify their name: the art work is a thing of "empathy" (Titchener, Ward), of "fellow feeling" (Mitchell...
    fashion
    c. 1300, fasoun, "physical make-up or composition; form, shape; appearance," from Old French façon, fachon, fazon "face, appearance; construction, pattern, design; thing done; beauty; manner, characteristic feature" (12c.), from Latin factionem (nominative factio) "a making or do
    Eros
    god of love, late 14c., from Greek eros (plural erotes), "god or personification of love; (carnal) love," from eran, eramai, erasthai "to desire," which is of uncertain origin. Beekes suggests it is from Pre-Greek. The Freudian sense of "urge to self-preservation and sexual pleas
    news
    late 14c., "new things," plural of new (n.) "new thing" (see new (adj.)); after French nouvelles, which was used in Bible translations to render Medieval Latin nova (neuter plural) "news," literally "new things." The English word was construed as singular at least from the 1560s,
    nuance
    "slight or delicate degree of difference in expression, feeling, opinion, etc.," 1781, from French nuance "slight difference, shade of color" (17c.), from nuer "to shade," from nue "cloud," from Gallo-Roman *nuba, from Latin nubes "a cloud, mist, vapor," from PIE *sneudh- "fog" (
    cipher
    late 14c., "arithmetical symbol for zero," from Old French cifre "nought, zero," Medieval Latin cifra, which, with Spanish and Italian cifra, ultimately is from Arabic sifr "zero," literally "empty, nothing," from safara "to be empty;" a loan-translation of Sanskrit sunya-s "empt
    stoic
    late 14c., "philosopher of the school founded by Zeno" (c. 334-c. 262 B.C.E.), from Latin stoicus, from Greek stoikos "pertaining to a member of or the teachings of the school founded by Zeno, characterized by austere ethical doctrines," literally "pertaining to a portico," from
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    late 13c., langage "words, what is said, conversation, talk," from Old French langage "speech, words, oratory; a tribe, people, nation" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *linguaticum, from Latin lingua "tongue," also "speech, language," from PIE root *dnghu- "tongue." The -u- is an Anglo
    customer
    late 14c., custumer, "customs official, toll-gatherer;" c. 1400, "one who purchases goods or supplies, one who customarily buys from the same tradesman or guild," from Anglo-French custumer, Old French coustumier, from Medieval Latin custumarius "a toll-gatherer, tax-collector,"
    plunder
    "take goods or valuable forcibly from, take by pillage or open force," 1630s, from German plündern, from Middle High German plunderen "to plunder," originally "to take away household furniture," from plunder (n.) "household goods, clothes," also "lumber, baggage" (14c.; compare M

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