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Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word ma

ma1 more

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1813 Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu
Inherited from
Latin magis
Ultimate origin
Latin magis
Etymology tree of ma1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin magis
Aromanian ma
French mais
Italian ma
Italian mai
From the same root · ma1
Latin magister ← magis
French désormais ← mais
Italian ormai ← mai

Forms

ma[1]

  • Other spellings: MA 1 in Papahagi's dictionary, which cross-refers it to maĭ and mași;[2] ma in Dalametra,[3] Mihăileanu[4] and Weigand.[5]

Etymology

The adverb ma “more” is inherited from Latin magis (“more”),[2][6][1] a derivative of magnus (“great”); de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *magis (“greater”) and Proto-Indo-European *mǵ-i(V)s- (“greater”).[7]

Candrea and Densusianu explain the Aromanian form: the Latin adverb became *mais and *mas, and later mai;[8] Aromanian ma continues *mas used as an unstressed word.[9] The other Eastern Romance languages have Romanian mai, Megleno-Romanian mai and Istro-Romanian mai.[9][8] Further west it gave Italian mai (“ever”), French mais (“but”), Spanish más (“more”) and Portuguese mais (“more”), and Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese use it to form the comparative.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record Pascu cites is Boiagi's grammar of 1813, where it means “more”, forming the comparative.[6]

Semantic evolution

Besides “more”, with which it forms the comparative (ma mare “bigger”), Papahagi's dictionary records “still, again” (ma vreĭ? “do you want more?”) and “all the time, continually”.[2] Cunia likewise gives “more” and “without stopping”.[11] In P. Papahagi's tales it also means “as soon as”.[12]

Timeline

  • 1813 – recorded in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[6]
  • 1894 – ma “more”, with the comparative, in Weigand's glossary.[5]
  • 1901 – ma búnu di mine “better than me” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[4]
  • 1906 – ma “more” in Dalametra's dictionary.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. more; forms the comparative of adjectives and adverbs.[11][2][6]
  2. still, again.[2]
  3. All the time, continually.[11][2]
  4. (in P. Papahagi's tales) As soon as.[12]

ma2 but

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1813 Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu
Borrowed from
Italian ma
Ultimate origin
Latin magis
Etymology tree of ma2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin magis
French mais
Italian ma
Aromanian ma
Italian mai
The journey of ma2
From the same root · ma2
Latin magister ← magis
French désormais ← mais
Italian ormai ← mai

Forms

ma[1]

  • Other spellings: MA 2 in Papahagi's dictionary;[2] mea in P. Papahagi's tales, as Pascu records;[13] ma in Dalametra,[3] Mihăileanu[4] and Weigand.[5]

Etymology

The conjunction ma “but” is borrowed from Italian ma (“but”) according to Papahagi's dictionary,[2] Pascu, who files it among the Romance loans,[13] and Wiktionary.[1] Papahagi and Pascu point to the same conjunction in Greek, Modern Greek μα (ma, “but”), and Albanian, Albanian ma;[2][13] Pușcariu notes ma “but” in Aromanian, Megleno- and Istro-Romanian, and also in Albanian, Greek and Croatian.[8] Babiniotis derives the Greek conjunction from Medieval Greek, which took it from Italian, and the Italian word from Latin;[14] Kriaras records it in Medieval Greek texts.[15]

Other scholars see another source: for the Megleno-Romanian conjunction ma Capidan thinks a Greek origin likely, after G. Meyer,[16] and the REW lists Aromanian ma “but” under Latin magis, beside French mais (“but”) and Spanish más (“more, but”).[10] Istro-Romanian has the conjunction too, ma.[17][18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record Pascu cites is Boiagi's grammar of 1813, for the senses “but” and “if”.[13]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is “but”, at the head of a clause;[4][2] it also means “if”, as in Dalametra's ma nu vreĭ tini, eu va yin “if you don't want to, I will come”,[3] and Weigand records ma s “but if”.[5] Pascu adds “or else” from P. Papahagi's tales.[13]

Timeline

  • 1813 – recorded in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[13]
  • 1894 – ma “but” in Weigand's glossary.[5]
  • 1901 – ma “but, however” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[4]
  • 1906 – ma “but; if” in Dalametra's dictionary.[3]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. but, however.[19][2][4]
  2. if.[2][3][20]
  3. (in P. Papahagi's tales) Or else.[13]
  • Romanian mai
  • Megleno-Romanian ma

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 762
  3. ^ a b c d e f Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 125
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 270
  5. ^ a b c d e Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 316
  6. ^ a b c d Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 112
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 87
  9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 607
  12. ^ a b Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 633
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 212
  14. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 858
  15. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  16. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 178
  17. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  18. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 122
  19. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 606
  20. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 344

Related etymologies

  • stat · also from Italian
  • featã · also from Latin
  • cu · also from Latin
  • cã · also from Latin
  • tu · also from Latin
  • shi · also from Latin
  • di · also from Latin
  • am · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Ma.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/ma. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·