† amadadj.

Etymology: Apparently the reflex (with reduction of the prefix; compare a- prefix²) of Old English gemǣd, gemǣded (inflected form gemǣdd- ) mad, foolish, use as adjective of the past participle of an otherwise unattested weak Class I verb *mǣdan to make mad or foolish, apparently cognate with Old Icelandic meiða to injure, maim, a factitive formation < the same Germanic base as (with prefixation: see y- prefix) Old English gemād silly, mad (see note), Middle Dutch gemeet merry, cheerful, bold, brave, Old Saxon gimēd foolish (Middle Low German gemeyt merry, cheerful, bold, proud, foolish), Old High German gimeit foolish, boastful (Middle High German gemeit merry, cheerful, bold, brave; early modern German gemeit ), Gothic gamaiþs crippled, with an original sense ‘damaged (either physically or mentally)’; further etymology uncertain and disputed: perhaps < a derivative (in *-to- ) of the Indo-European base of Sanskrit mī- , minā- to lessen, diminish, destroy, classical Latin minuere to lessen, diminish (see minor adj. and n.). Alternatively, the Germanic forms are sometimes referred to the Germanic base of Gothic maidjan to change, falsify (also in inmaidjan to transform) < an ablaut variant of the Germanic base of mithe v.; however, despite the formal similarity, the semantic development would be difficult to account for. Compare mad adj. and also formad adj.Old English (West Saxon) gemǣd , (Anglian) gemǣded shows regular i-mutation of the stem vowel caused by the verb-forming suffix of Class I weak verbs. In reflexes of inflected gemǣdd- shortening of the originally long vowel is expected before the double consonant; compare the early Middle English form amadde (probably to be interpreted as inflected for plural). Compare the following examples of Old English gemǣd , gemǣded (quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing verbal use of the past participle):eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 69/2 Ineptus, gemędid.eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 49 Amens, gemæd.OE Riddle 11 6 Ic þæs nowhit wat þæt heo swa gemædde, mode bestolene, dæde gedwolene, deoraþ mine won wisan gehwam. Old English gemād is rare and attested only in early glossaries. It is doubtful that it survived beyond Old English (Middle English forms of mad adj. that appear to show a long vowel are attested much later and are probably to be explained otherwise). Compare:eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 119/2 Uecors, gemaad.eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn Minor Lat.-Old Eng. Glossaries in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 77 Fatue, gemad. Compare also related Old English (rare) gemǣdla madness, which also shows a form of the base with i-mutation, and which probably represents a suffixed derivative of Old English gemǣd or its etymon the otherwise unattested verb:eOE Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) iii. lvii. 432 Vviþ wif gemædlan geberge on neaht nestig rædices moran. Þy dæge ne mæg þe se gemædla sceþþan. There are no unprefixed forms of the base attested in Old English. An Old English compound adjective *mādmōd (compare mood n.¹), which was formerly thought to be attested, is now regarded as a ghost word.