mire

Where does the word "mire" come from? It comes from Old Norse myrr, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Mire’s story begins in Old Norse: myrr meant “a bog, swampy ground.” A bog, an area of wet, swampy ground. It reached English by 1300s as mire. Settled as the English word for wet, muddy ground. Today, mire means an area of wet, muddy ground, or a difficult, entangling situation.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval myrr "a bog, swampy ground", a bog, an area of wet, swampy ground.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s mire "an area of wet, muddy ground", settled as the English word for wet, muddy ground.