I was in Cardiff last weekend and one of the places I walked along was the Taffs Mead Embankment, which runs along the River Taff. I’ve seen the word mead in the name Thamesmead, a district of south east London, but hadn’t thought about what it might mean.
Mead in this context means meadow and comes from the Old English mǣd (meadow), and is cognate with West Frisian miede, and the Low German Meed and Mede. These all come from the Proto-Germanic *mēdwō (meadow, pasture), as does meadow [source].
Another meaning of “mead” is alcoholic beverage, basically honey wine (fermented honey and spices). It is not as popular now as it used to be, but you can still get it in some places.
That other meaning must be related to the Russian мёд (myod), which means both honey and the alcoholic beverage.
The Matte(r) of Matterhorn comes from the same “mead” and “meadow” root, it seems. Though it’s hard to imagine much mowing being done on those vertiginous slopes!
Lev, isn’t there a connection too between mead (the drink) and the Russian word медведь (medved’), bear (the honey beast?)? And what about Russian prime minister Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев? 🙂
Russian “мёд” and Polish “miód” come from the same slavic word “medъ”. This word is also the root for Russian “медведь” and Polish “niedźwiedź” (the bear). As far as I remember the original meaning was “eater of honey”. Also, in both languages regular honey (made by bees) and the alcoholic drink can be called by the same name. In Polish sometimes it can be differentiated by calling mead “miód pitny” (drinkable honey). I am not sure about Russian.