The origin of words: MUD

Mud dates back to the mid-14th century. The Middle English noun mudde or mode came into English from either the Middle Low German mudde or the Middle Dutch modde. It can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic root mud-, from the Proto-Indo-European root (s)meu- or mu-, which is found in many words related to dirt or moisture. It is related to the Greek mydos (damp or moisture), the Old Irish muad (cloud), the Polish muł (slime), the Sanskrit mutra– (urine), the Avestan muthra– (excrement or filth) and the German Schmutz (dirt), as well as the Welsh mwd(mud), which actually came from the English word. The figurative sense, ‘the lowest or worst of something,’ first appeared in the late 17th century. It has been used as slang for coffee since the 1920s. The verb comes from the noun, and first appeared in the 15th century. The expression to throw, sling or hurl mud, meaning ‘to make accusations,’ has been used since the mid-18th century. Meanwhile, to drag someone’s name through the mud first appeared in the 19th century, but comes from a now obsolete meaning of mud, ‘an ignorant person.’ The toast ‘mud in your eye‘ was first recorded in the early 20th century.