German word meaning 'my' or 'mine'; used to indicate possession. Also appears in English contexts in phrases like 'chow mein' or references to German texts.
From Old High German 'min', related to English 'my' and 'mine', all derived from Proto-Germanic possessive forms. Part of the common Indo-European family of first-person possessive pronouns found across many languages.
The word mein reveals the deep family relationships between Germanic languages - it's essentially the same word as English 'mine' and Old English 'min'! When you see 'mein' in 'chow mein' (fried noodles), you're actually seeing the Chinese word '面' (miàn) meaning noodles, showing how similar sounds can have completely different origins.
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