Etymologically
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миръ

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Forms

миръ (mirŭ) m, u-stem, Glagolitic ⰿⰹⱃⱏ[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *mirъ (“peace; world”), originally a u-stem, of which OCS and Old Czech keep traces.[2][1][3] The same word is Russian мир (mir), Bulgarian мир (mir), Serbo-Croatian mȋr, Slovene mȋr, Czech mír, Polish mir and Upper Sorbian měr, in most of them meaning peace.[2][4]

Its origin is unclear.[3] The only direct counterparts are Lithuanian mieras (“peace”) (in old texts) and Latvian miêrs (“peace”);[4][1][3] Derksen and Wiktionary reconstruct Proto-Balto-Slavic *meiʔrós from them, while ESJS, following Būga and Trubachev, takes the Baltic words rather for loans from Slavic.[4][1][3] ESJS weighs three explanations:[3]

  • Most etymologists derive it with an r-suffix from Proto-Indo-European *meyH- (“mild, kind”), the root of милъ (“dear”), so that peace was first friendly living together;[3][4][5][2] Derksen compares Latin mītis (“mild”), and Vasmer Albanian mirë (“good”).[3][4][5][2] ESJS notes that this leaves the senses world and community unexplained and that the two Slavic words differ in intonation.[3]
  • Erhart connected it with *Hmey- (“to fasten, make firm”), the root of Sanskrit मित्र (mitra, “friend; contract”), with a development from firmly fixed through order and agreement to peace, community and world;[3][1] Latin pāx (“peace”), from a root meaning to fasten, is a parallel.[3][1]
  • Humbach, Toporov and Treimer took it as a loan from an Iranian word for agreement, alliance and friendship, which Trubachev rejects.[3]

Wiktionary notes that some scholars see an early merger, with the sense peace from the root meaning mild and the sense world from the root meaning to bind.[1] Machek too gave the two senses separate sources, a view Trubachev rejected.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Gospels of the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus already have both senses: peace for Ancient Greek εἰρήνη (eirḗnē), as in иди съ миромь “go in peace” (Mc 5, 34), and the world for Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos), as in не можетъ миръ ненавидѣти васъ “the world cannot hate you” (J 7, 7).[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The SJS and SNSP give the two senses as two headwords, миръ¹ “peace” for εἰρήνη (and in SNSP καταλλαγή, reconciliation) and миръ² “world” for κόσμος, Ancient Greek οἰκουμένη (oikouménē), κτίσις, αἰών and βίος, but ESJS, Derksen, Vasmer and Wiktionary treat them as one word, the world being the community of those living in peace.[3][6][7][4][2][1] Peace is also the greeting миръ вамъ “peace be with you” (L 24, 36), and старѣишина мироу “prince of peace” names Christ in the Codex Suprasliensis.[7] For the world the older texts often say вьсь миръ, “the whole world”, and сь миръ “this world” means earthly life.[6][7]

The Euchologium Sinaiticum renders κόσμος by both вѣкъ and миръ, and the 14th-century Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa has миръ for κόσμος beside красота and оукрашениѥ for its sense of adornment.[8] Church Slavonic миръ “world” gave Serbo-Croatian mȋr “world” and Romanian preot de mir “lay priest”, and мирѧнинъ “layman” passed to Bulgarian, Russian and Romanian.[3] The later Church Slavonic spelling separates the two senses: Giltebrandt and Sedakova write ми́ръ for peace and мі́ръ for the world.[9][10] In Russian the sense of a village community grew out of the peaceful community.[2]

Timeline

  • End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum renders κόσμος by вѣкъ and миръ.[8]
  • 14th century – the Athonite Serbian translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses миръ for κόσμος.[8]
  • Up to the early 15th century – a Serbian text from the Rila Monastery has миръ for εἰρήνη.[8]
  • 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists ми́ръ (εἰρήνη) and мі́ръ (κόσμος) as separate headwords.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. peace, quiet, rest; for εἰρήνη.[6][7][1]
  2. Peace as a greeting; for εἰρήνη.[7]
  3. Reconciliation; for καταλλαγή.[7]
  4. The world, the universe; for κόσμος, οἰκουμένη, κτίσις.[6][7][1]
  5. This world, earthly life; for κόσμος, βίος, αἰών.[6][7]

Word family

  • мирьнъ
  • мирьскъ
  • мировати
  • миротворьць
  • миродръжитель
  • съмирити
  • примирити
  • милъ
  • Russian мир (mir)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 626
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 477–478
  4. ^ a b c d e f Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 268
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Slovník nejstarších staroslověnských památek (digital ed., Gorazd, Slovanský ústav AV ČR, gorazd.org); cf. Cejtlin, R. M.; Večerka, R.; Blagova, É. (eds.) (1994), Staroslavjanskij slovar' (po rukopisjam X–XI vekov), Moskva: Russkij jazyk
  8. ^ a b c d SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
  9. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
  10. ^ Sedakova, O. A. (2005), Slovar' trudnyx slov iz bogosluženija: cerkovnoslavjano-russkie paronimy, Moskva: Grēko-latinskij kabinet Ju. A. Šičalina