Lemizh / English dictionary
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màxk.
to lie to someone-dat about something-acc, to deceive with words (ditto);
timber: to creak without anyone stepping on it
Usage notes
From Late Middle Lemizh onwards, people have said that timbers are ‘lying’ to describe their creaking noises due to wind and temperature changes; this is because the timber falsely acts as if some intruder were in the house.
Etymology
< NLem mexk‑a
< LMLem mèxk‑a
< MLem meexk‑a
< OLem mēçk‑
< PLem *māçx‑ ‘lengthen, stretch’, root present of
< PIE *meh₂k̑‑eh₂‑ ‘make long’, de-adjectival factitive verb of
PIE *meh₂k̑‑ ‘long’
The modern meaning developed from the notion of ‘stretching the truth’.
Cognates
Eng macro- (via Gk μακρός ‘long, far’)