mix English · revision 3845

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 1480|origins=la misceō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɪks/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a back-formation from [[m|enm|mixte|t=mingled, blended]] or mixed,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) [[bor|xno|mixte]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|mixtus]], past participle of [[m|la|miscēre|t=to mix, mingle, blend]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*meiḱ-|t=to mix]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the root also of Greek mísgein, Old Irish mescaim “I mix”, Lithuanian miẽšti and Sanskrit miśrá- “mixed”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Old English miscian, borrowed from the Latin verb, did not survive into Middle English.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[mixture]], [[miscellaneous]], [[meddle]] and [[promiscuous]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To put together two or more substances: about 1480 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Barnhart dates the verb to 1538, in Elyot's ''Dictionary'',^(Barnhart 1988) and Etymonline to the 1530s;^(Etymonline) Hoad says the infinitive is not found before the second quarter of the 16th century,^(Hoad 1986) and myxte is from probably before 1425.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb was rare before Elizabethan times, perhaps because it could be confused with Middle English mixen “dung-hill” and mix “filth”, from a root meaning “to urinate”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “To form by blending ingredients” is from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) combining immaterial things from 1597,^(OED 1989) and the intransitive “to become blended” from the 1630s;^(Etymonline) “to associate with others” is from the 1660s^(Etymonline) or the 17th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) In cinema and broadcasting, to combine two pictures or sounds, it is from 1922.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The noun, the act or result of mixing, is from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) a jumble from 1882, and ready-mixed ingredients for cooking from 1938.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1480 – to mix substances.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1530s – verb, common use begins.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – to form by blending.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – noun, a mixture.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – to associate with others.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – in film and broadcasting.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1938 – a ready mix.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To combine or blend into one mass.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make by combining ingredients: ''to mix a drink''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To bring together; to combine: ''to mix business and pleasure''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To associate socially; to get along with others.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[crossbreed]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To combine sounds or tracks into a single recording.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[mixture]] or combination.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A packaged mixture of ingredients: ''a cake mix''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A version of a recording produced by mixing.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mixable]]

+ * [[mixability]]

+ * [[commix]]

+ * [[mixed]]

+ * [[overmix]]

+ * [[mixer]]

+ * [[mixture]]

+ * [[remix]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[miscellaneous]]

+ * [[meddle]]

+ * [[medley]]

+ * [[promiscuous]]

+ * [[mixen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate Old English mix, “dung, filth”, from about 888, survives in the dialect word [[mixen]], a dung-hill;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) in the West Midlands ''to mix'' was to clean out a stable.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}