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Origin and history of Mediterranean

Mediterranean

"the sea between southern Europe and northern Africa," 1590s, earlier Mediterranie (c. 1400), from Late Latin Mediterraneum mare "Mediterranean Sea" (7c.), from Latin mediterraneus "midland, surrounded by land, in the midst of an expanse of land" (but in reference to the body of water between Europe and African the sense probably was "the sea in the middle of the earth"); from medius "middle" (from PIE root *medhyo- "middle") + terra "land, earth" (from PIE root *ters- "to dry").

The Old English name was Wendel-sæ, so called for the Vandals, Germanic tribe that settled on the southwest coast of it after the fall of Rome. The noun meaning "a person of Mediterranean race" is by 1888.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to Mediterranean

med(n.)

by 1851 as a shortening of medic. As a colloquial shortening of medicine, by 1942. With a capital M and short for Mediterranean, by 1948. Meds as a shortening of medications is attested in hospital jargon by 1965.

*medhyo-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "middle." Perhaps related to PIE root *me- (2) "to measure."

It might form all or part of: amid; intermediate; mean (adj.2) "occupying a middle or intermediate place;" medal; medial; median; mediate; medieval; mediocre; Mediterranean; medium; meridian; mesic; mesial; meso-; meson; Mesopotamia; Mesozoic; mezzanine; mezzo; mezzotint; mid (prep., adj.); middle; Midgard; midriff; midst; midwife; milieu; minge; mizzen; moiety; mullion.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit madhyah, Avestan madiya- "middle," Greek mesos, Latin medius "in the middle, between; from the middle," Gothic midjis, Old English midd "middle," Old Church Slavonic medzu "between," Armenian mej "middle."

*ters-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to dry."

It might form all or part of: inter; Mediterranean; metatarsal; parterre; subterranean; tarsal; tarsus; Tartuffe; terra; terrace; terra-cotta; terrain; terran; terraqueous; terrarium; terrene; terrestrial; terrier; territory; thirst; toast; torrent; torrid; turmeric; tureen.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit tarsayati "dries up;" Avestan tarshu- "dry, solid;" Greek teresesthai "to become or be dry," tersainein "to make dry;" Latin torrere "dry up, parch," terra "earth, land;" Gothic þaursus "dry, barren," Old High German thurri, German dürr, Old English þyrre "dry;" Old English þurstig "thirsty."

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    Elmo
    tips of masts and yard-arms, especially in storms, 1560s, from Italian fuoco di Sant'Elmo, named for the patron saint of Mediterranean...Erasmus, an Italian bishop said to have been martyred in 303 who was invoked in the Mediterranean by sailors during storms...
    maquis
    "dense scrub or brushwood in a Mediterranean land," 1858, from French maquis "undergrowth, shrub," especially in reference...to the dense scrub of certain Mediterranean coastal regions, long the haunts of outlaws and fugitives, from Corsican Italian...
    rue
    perennial evergreen shrub, native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, used in cooking and highly esteemed in the Middle...pēganon, itself probably a Pre-Greek word, and some consider Latin ruta and Greek rhytē rather as common borrowings from a Mediterranean...
    Riviera
    1630s, "Mediterranean seacoast around Genoa," from Italian riviera, literally "bank, shore" (see river)....
    parsley
    biennial garden-herb, originally from the eastern Mediterranean; its aromatic leaves are used for flavoring and as a garnish...
    mint
    Greek minthē, personified as a nymph transformed into an herb by Proserpine, which is probably a loan-word from a lost Mediterranean...
    oleander
    "rose bay," a poisonous evergreen Mediterranean shrub, late 14c., oleaster, from Medieval Latin oleander, a word of uncertain...
    Sardinia
    large island west of Italy, Latin, from Greek Sardō, Sardōn; perhaps named for the local Iberian people who had settled there; the original form and meaning of the name is lost. A Punic (Phoenician) stelle from 7c. B.C.E. refers to it as Shardan. The oblique cases in Greek are so
    Corsica
    island in the Mediterranean north of Sardinia, a part of France since 1769, Latin, from Greek Korsis, which is of unknown origin. Renowned in ancient times for the honey and wax of wild bees. Corsican is from 1738 as an adjective; 1748 as a noun "native or inhabitant of Corsica."
    score
    late Old English scoru "twenty," from Old Norse skor "mark, notch, incision; a rift in rock," also, in Icelandic, "twenty," from Proto-Germanic *skur-, from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut." The notion probably is of counting large numbers (of a passing flock of sheep, etc.) by makin

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