Proto-Semitic *MŪT --- *MŎRT- < MŎT-" Indo-European

• Check-mate is based on the same root. The English terms "check" and "chess" have deviated rather far from the original Persian words. Check-mate was "shah mat" or "the king is dead".
  The game of chess came from India. The name perhaps has traveled via the Arabs but there is no sign of them having influenced or changed it.

• Greek. There is no doubt about the fact that the word "brotos" has come from an older word "mrotos", that apparently was less convenient in pronunciation for classic speakers. We know the food of the Greek Gods was called "ambrosia" because they were immortal , in Greek : "αμβροσιος , ambrosios = immortal" (singular, with plural "ambrosioi").

• English has quite a few words that, with Latin root, begin with "mort-", such as "mortal"

• Hebrew in its meaning is nearest to Latin : death and to die.

• Proto-Semitic. Most Semitic languages have a root similar to Hebrew "M W T". In Aramaic we see, besides "M W T", " מ ו ת, mut", also " מ י ת, M Y T, mit = to die" . Perhaps for that reason there exists the hypothesis that Proto-Semitic, besides the root "* M W T" like Hebrew, already had as well "*M Y T"., but this seems improbable. It must be then noted instead that in some Semitic languages this Waw has disappeared. This is the case in Akkadian "mātu", Ethiopian "mata" and Arabic "māta".

   

  This indicates that the development of roots, from original "C(onsonant) W C" into "C C", thus losing the "Waw" has taken place in several cases already in Proto-Semitic. Thus Proto-Semitic probably used both forms : "* מ ו ת , M W T" and "* מ ת , M T".

• Proto-Germanic. Most Germanic languages have "MORD", though sometimes the final dental, where pronounced anyway like "T", is also spelled "T" ( Middle Dutch, Middle High German). In Old Saxon and Old Frisian it was "TH". In the related verbs meaning "to murder", one finds in Nordic "Y" or "Ö". This last vowel "Ö" is pronounced rather like the "U" in English "murder". The supposition that the final "D" that corresponds with Latin, Greek and even Semitic "T", is a suffix, would be thinkable only if that suffix was of pre-Afro-Asian and pre-Indo-European application. This is very uncertain. The hypothesis for Proto-Germanic is "*M O RD-"

• Indo European 1. There is quite a debate about the question if the original root had a T or only an R, with the ruling opinion being that the root was "*mer". But there are very many words for "dead" ,"to die" and "to kill", in a great number of languages, that have both R and T (D).
  Examples are found in Old Indian, Avesti, Old Slavic, Baltic and Armenian, besides Greek, Germanic and Latin. Consequently a final dental, T or D, was part of the Indo-European root.

   

  The debate can be closed by having a better look at Old Indian, as seen in the above table. And as already indicated, it uses a root "M . T" as seen in Hebrew, "M R T" as in most Indo-European languages, and besides that a root that has lost the " T " , which is also seen in Latin. The " R " in several cases has the function of vowel, which is expressed by spelling it " Ŗ ". Obviously Indo-European has begun to introduce an "R", but in a gradual way, diversifying between "to kill" and "to die": "*M E T-" or "*M Ŏ T-"for " to kill" and "*M (O) R T-" for "to die" and "dead". But that ""*M E T" has not continued into all groups.

• Indo European 2. The information from other groups of Indo-European languages is in harmony with the previous note.

   

  Avestan mĕrĕta = dead", and mĕrĕti = death" sign "M R T", whereas "miriyeite = dies" signs "M R".

   

  Slavic in Old Church Slavonic "mreti = dies" shows "M R T". In "mrŭtvŭ = dead" one recognizes the remains of what has been a vowel " O ".

   

  Russian "мертвыь, mjortwŭj = dead" and has many cognates , part of which have an initial "S" added.

   

  Baltic offers in Lithuanian " M R T", with the vowel "O" developed into " I ": mirti = to die" and "mirtis = death".

• Latin "mactare = to kill" is also used when an animal is sacrified, is identical to another verb, "mactare = to honour, glorify gods". As this last action in old times very much was performed by killing and sacrifying an animal, we presume their origin is common, and lies in the meaning of "to kill". The C, or K-sound, may have been a way of diversifying from the basic general meaning. It is also a variation from the R in "mortuus".

• Neo-Latin languages have "matar (Spanish)" and "mattare (Italian)", derived from "mactare (Latin), for "to kill". We just point out that this Latin verb should not be considered a so-called intensive form of a hypothetical verb "*macare" that should have meant something in the order of "big" , "honour" , "cut" or "fight".

   

  Italian speakers may wonder if the more common word for "to kill", that is "ammazzare", might belong in this entry. Many words in different languages that bear the message of "killing", be it of animals or people and also in battle, have been shaped after other words that say "to beat, hit".
  Italian "ammazzare" is composed of a prefix "ad" and "mazzare", that says "to beat". Also "abbattere", like French "abattre" has acquired the sense of "to kiIl".

   

  In French a slaughter-house is called an "abattoir", a word also loaned into English.
  According to the same principle but with different shaping we find "to beat" and "to kill" in German "schlagen" and "schlachten", Dutch "slaan" and "slachten", Norwegian „slå" and „slakte" etcetera. And English has „to slay", after Old English „slēan (to beat)", as well as "to slaughter".