Etymology

From Sanskrit मधु ‎(mádhu, “mead; honey; juice, nectar”) +‎ -వు ‎(-vu); from Proto-Indo-European *médʰu ‎(“mead”). Cognates include Ancient Greek μέθυ ‎(méthu), Lithuanian medùs, Old Church Slavonic мєдъ ‎(medŭ, “honey”), and Old English medu (English mead).