Etymologically
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mixture

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmɪkst͡ʃɚ/; /ˈmɪkstʃə/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French misture, French mixture, and directly borrowed from Latin mixtura (“a mixing”), mistura,[2][3][4][5] from mixtus, the past participle of miscēre (“to mix”) (see mix), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *meik- (“to mix”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which results from mixing: the early 15th century in Etymonline;[2] the act of mixing, or the state of being mixed, the mid-15th century.[2] The earlier word for both was mixtion (late 14th century).[2]

Semantic evolution

A product made by mixing with stated components is from 1460–70.[6] The process of mixing is from 1530,[6] and a mixed state or coexistence of different elements from 1597.[6] An obsolete sense, sexual intercourse, is from 1483,[6] and social mixing, also obsolete, from 1764.[6] In chemistry, a mixture is a combination of substances not chemically united, as opposed to a compound.[7][8]

Timeline

  • early 15th century – that which results from mixing.[2]
  • 1460 – a mixed product.[6]
  • 1530 – the process of mixing.[6]
  • 1597 – a mixed state.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A substance or thing made by mixing other things.
  2. A combination of different qualities or things: a mixture of hope and fear.
  3. (chemistry) A combination of substances that are not chemically bonded.
  4. The process of mixing or the state of being mixed.

Word family

  • admixture
  • commixture
  • intermixture
  • Bordeaux mixture
  • Brompton mixture
  • mix
  • mixer
  • mixed
  • miscellaneous
  • promiscuous
  • meddle

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins