From Proto-Baltic *meyg- (Eastern Baltic *mieg-), from Proto-Indo-European *meygʰ-, from the stem *mey- (“to press, to hit”) with an extra -g(ʰ)- (whence also Latvian miegt “to press, to squeeze”). The original meaning was thus “closing, pressing together” (the eyelids), from which “sleep”. Cognates include Lithuanian miẽgas, miegóti (“to sleep”), Old Prussian enmigguns (“asleep”), meicte (“to sleep”), maiggun (“sleep (accusative)”), Old Church Slavonic помигати (pomigati, “to blink, to wink”), Russian мигать (migatʹ), мжить (mžitʹ, “to doze off, to take a nap”), Ukrainian мига́ти (myháty, “to blink, to wink”), Bulgarian ми́гам (mígam), Czech mihati, Polish migać.