Middle English, heap, stack, from Old English mūga; akin to Old Norse mūgi heap
Verb (1)
Middle English mowen, going back to Old English māwan (past participle māwen), going back to West Germanic *mēan- (whence, with a differing hiatus consonant, Old Frisian miā, miān "to mow," Middle Dutch maeyen, Old High German *māen), going back to an Indo-European verbal base *h2meh1- "reap, mow," whence also Greek amáō, amân "to reap, cut" (perhaps from *h2mh1-eh2-)
Note: Old English māwan is a Class VII strong verb (like cnāwanknow entry 1, blāwanblow entry 1), though a weak verb in later Middle and Modern English and in other Germanic languages. The element *-eh1- in *h2meh1- has been treated as a suffix, with a parallel derivative *h2m-et- yielding Italo-Celtic *met-, in Latin metō, metere "to reap, harvest, cut off," Welsh medaf, medi "to reap," Middle Breton midiff, Breton mediñ, Middle Irish meithel "reaping party," Welsh medel. Hittite hamešha(nt)- "spring, harvest time" has also been connected with *h2meh1-, though with some dispute. Cf. aftermath, meadow.
Noun (2)
Middle English mowe, from Anglo-French mouwe, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch mouwe protruding lip
First Known Use
Noun (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1