"M" Word Origins

mooch

Old French

From Middle English mouchen ("to skulk about, pretend poverty"), ultimately from an Old French word meaning "to hide or lurk" — the idea of sneaking about for a handout.

moocha

Origin

From Zulu unmutsha.

moocher

Origin

From mooch + -er.

mood

Old English

From Old English mod, meaning "mind, spirit, or courage" — the word originally leaned more toward "temperament" and "bravery" than today's narrower sense of a passing feeling.

moody

Old English

From Old English modig ("brave, spirited"), built from mod ("mind, spirit") plus -y; the meaning drifted over time from "spirited" toward today's "prone to bad moods."

mook

Origin · 1930

Origin unclear; it surfaced in American slang in the 1930s, possibly related to British slang "moke" (donkey) or to words meaning "fool" in other languages.

mookish

Origin

From mook (“a disagreeable or incompetent person”) + -ish.

mooli

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi मूली (mūlī, “[Indian] radish”) (feminine of मूल (mūl)), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀽𑀮 (mūla), from Sanskrit मूल (mūla).

Moomin

Origin · 1945

Created by Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson, who introduced the character in a book published in 1945.

moon

Old English

From Old English mona, from an ancient Germanic word for "moon" that shares its root with month — the moon's cycle was one of the earliest ways people measured time.

moonbase

Origin

A straightforward compound of moon and base.

moonbeam

Origin

A compound of moon and beam.

Mooney

Irish

An anglicised form of the Irish surname Ó Maonaigh.

mooning

Origin · 1700

From the use of "moon" as slang for the buttocks, a usage traced back to the 1700s and popularised by American student slang in the 1960s.

moonlight

Middle English

From Middle English monelight, a compound of moon and light; the verb sense developed later, from the image of doing extra work after dark once the main job was done.

moonlighter

Origin

From moonlight + -er.

moonlighting

Origin

Formed from the verb moonlight plus -ing.

moonlike

Origin

From moon + -like. Compare Middle English mone-lich, Old English mōnelīċ (“lunar”).

moonlit

Origin

From moon + lit, formed the same way as "sunlit."

moonrise

Origin

From moon + rise.

moonshine

Middle English

From Middle English "moon-shine." The illicit-alcohol sense comes from smugglers and distillers who worked at night, "by the light of the moon," to avoid being caught.

moonshiner

Origin

From moonshine + -er.

moonsick

Origin

From moon + sick.

moonstone

Origin

From moon + stone, named for its milky, moon-like sheen.

moontime

Origin

From moon + time, as the lunar cycle is traditionally linked to menstruation.

moor

Old English

From Old English mōr, related to Dutch moer and German Moor, all meaning boggy upland.

mooring

Origin

Named after the moorland of the Risem Moor where it is spoken.

moorland

Origin

From Middle English morelond, equivalent to moor + land. Compare Old Norse mýrlendi (“moorland”).

Moors

Dutch

From Dutch Moors ("Moorish"), or directly from Moor plus -s.

moose

Origin

Borrowed from an Eastern Algonquian word meaning roughly "it strips [bark]," describing how the animal feeds.

moot

Old English

From Old English (ge)mōt, meaning a formal meeting or assembly — the same root as "meet."

mop

Latin

From Middle English mappe, probably ultimately from Latin mappa, "napkin, cloth" — the same root as "map" and "napkin."

mope

Middle English

Late Middle English, originally meaning "fool" or "simpleton"; likely related to Low German and Scandinavian words for sulking or pouting.

moped

Swedish

Borrowed from Swedish moped, a blend of motor and pedal (or Swedish "pedaler").

mopey

Origin

From mope + -y.

moppet

Origin

From mop (“child, girl”) + -et.

mops

German

Borrowed from German Mops, "pug."

mopsy

Origin

From mop + -sy. From mopsy, from mop. Compare moppet.

MOQ

English

An initialism of minimum order quantity.

mora

Latin

Learned borrowing from Latin mora, "delay."

moral

Latin

From Old French moral, from Latin mōrālis, "relating to manners or morals," coined by Cicero to translate the Greek ēthikós.

morale

Latin

Borrowed from French morale, ultimately from the same Latin root as "moral," but developing its own separate meaning in French.

Morales

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Morales.

morality

Late Latin

From Old French moralité, from Late Latin mōrālitās, from Latin mōrālis, "relating to manners or morals."

moralize

Origin

From Old French moraliser, equivalent to moral + -ize.

morally

Origin

From moral + -ly.

Moran

Origin

* As an Irish surname, an anglicisation of Ó Móráin, from Ó (“descendant”) and Móráin (“of Mórán”), from mór (“large, great”). * Also as an Irish surname, from Ó Moghráin, Ó Mughróin (“descendant of Mughrón”), personal name from mogh (“slave”) + rón (“seal”). Sometimes also shortened from McMorran, of the same meaning. * As an English surname, variant of Morrin. * As a Spanish surname, variant of Morán. * As a French surname, variant of Morin. * Variant of the English and French surname Morant.

morass

Origin

From Dutch moeras (“marsh, swamp”), an alteration (with influence from Dutch moer (“moor”)) of a direct descendant of Middle Dutch marasch (“marsh”). The Middle Dutch word is a borrowing from Old French mareis, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk. Doublet of marish and marsh, and linked in part to moor. Compare quagmire.