FromLatinmēum(“umbelliferous plant,Meum athamanticum”), fromAncient Greekμῆον(mêon), probably fromμεῖον(meîon,“lesser”) for its small size. The English form came perhaps viaMiddle Frenchmeu, a word with a single isolated attestation from the 14th century which only began to appear consistently from 1568, by which time the word was established in English.[1]
Inherited fromOld Catalanmeu, fromLatinmeum, fromProto-Italic*meos. The feminine form wasmia in Old Catalan, but this was extended tomeva ormeua by analogy with the masculine form. This happened because the-u was not understood as a masculine ending anymore, having been lost in nouns (unlike Spanish, Portuguese and Italian-o).
The weak possessivemon is also fromLatinmeum, but as an unstressed monosyllabic form.
Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “meu”, inCorpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
E dòpp'i færi in gôa, i færi da prixón / e 'nte ferîe a seménsa velenóza da deportaçión / perché de nòstro, da-a cianûa a-omeu / no peu ciù crésce ni èrbo, ni spîga, ni figeu
And after the iron in the throat, the iron of the prison, and the poisonous seed of deportation inside the wounds, because no tree, or spike, or boy of ours is allowed to grow any longer, from the plain to thepier
my(belonging to, associated with, related to, or in the possession of me)
Omeu computador deu tela azul. ―My computer bluescreened.
Ainda não recebi omeu dinheiro. ―I still haven't receivedmy money.
Omeu pai veio me visitar. ―My father came to visit me.
Tenho que devolver osmeus livros pra biblioteca logo.
I have to takemy books back to the library soon.
2002, Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo, Carlos E. A. Coimbra Jr.,Antropologia, Saúde e Envelhecimento, SciELO Books, Editora FIOCRUZ,→ISBN,page81:
Ah, hoje o individualismo tomou conta da população. Cada um ‘primeiro eu’, depois eu, depois eu, depois eu, depois aminha mãe... e olhe lá. E olhe lá... Não, hoje a coisa tá desse jeito. Por incrível que pareça... é verdade.
Today, individualism has taken over the population. Everyone ‘me first’, then me, then me, then me, thenmy mother... at best. At best... No, that's the way it is today. Incredible as it may seem... it's true.
2007, Robson André,Inutaoshi: "A Presa do Lobo", Clube de Autores,page141:
Retirei omeuobi, junto com Ootsuka, e o depositei sobre o capim baixo. Arrumei omeukimono, que estava em farrapos, junto ao corpo e comecei a vestir aminha proteção.
I took offmy obi, along with Ootsuka, and laid it on the low grass. I arrangedmy kimono, which was in tatters, next to my body and began to put onmy protection.
2012, Vanessa de Oliveira,Psicopatas do coração, Matrix Editora,→ISBN,page110:
Ligueimeu notebook para ver as mensagens do dia. Aos poucos eu estava voltando a responder os e-mails demeus leitores.
I turned onmy laptop to check the day's messages. Little by little I was getting back to answeringmy readers' emails.
2015, György Dragomán,O Rei Branco, Editora Intrinseca,→ISBN,page85:
[…] abriu a gaveta do armário, pegou um alfinete de segurança, parou diante de mim, tirou a medalha daminha mão e se curvou e a pôs nomeu colete,[…]
[…] opened the cupboard drawer, took out a safety pin, stopped in front of me, took the medal frommy hand and bent down and put it inmy vest,[…]
1989, Giovanni Maria Cherchi, “Turrendi a bidda mea [Going back to my town]”, inLa poesia di l'althri (overall work in Italian and Sassarese), Sassari: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, page89:
E canti volthi, o biddamea natiba, soggu giuntu a zirchà da te li cosi mei chi v’aggiu pessu
And how many times, o native townof mine, have I come to you looking for the things that I have lost here
2020 March 25, Ignazio Sanna, “Di nomme fozzu Asdrubale [My name is Asdrubale]”, inIgnazio Sanna - Prosa e poesia in sassarese[2]:
Luméu nascimèntu l’abìa dinunziaddu sóru in municipiu
She [my mother] declaredmy birth only at the register office
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Meum athamanticum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Meum athamanticum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
Category:Meum athamanticum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
