measles English · revision 518

+ It is [[inh|enm|maseles]], plural of [[m|enm|masel]] “spot, pustule”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) probably from Middle Dutch [[m|dum|masel]] “blemish” or Middle Low German [[m|gml|masele]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) from Proto-Germanic [[m|gem-pro|*mas-]] “spot, blemish”, which also gave Old High German [[m|goh|masala]] “blood blister” and German [[m|de|Masern]] “measles”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The phonetic development is irregular:^(Etymonline) the later forms [[mesels]] and [[meseles]], source of the modern spelling, were probably influenced by Middle English [[m|enm|mēsel]] “leprous; a leper”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) from Old French [[m|fro|mesel]], from Latin [[m|la|misellus]] “wretched”, a diminutive of [[m|la|miser]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)