must

must
\ \ English has three words must. By far the commonest is of course the verb, ‘have to’ [OE], which originated in Old English as the past tense of the now obsolete mūt ‘may, must’. It has relatives in German muss and Dutch moet, but its ultimate origins are not known for certain (there may be some distant link with Germanic ‘measure’-words, such as English mete, suggesting a semantic progression from an original ‘time measured out for doing something’, through ‘have time to do something’, ‘be able to do something’, and ‘be allowed to do something’ to ‘have to do something’). Must ‘unfermented grape juice for making into wine’ [OE] comes from Latin mustum ‘new wine’, a noun use of the adjective mustus ‘new’. Mustard is a derivative. And the esoteric must ‘sexual frenzy in elephants, camels, etc’ [19] comes via Urdu from Persian mast ‘drunk’.
\ \ Cf.⇒ MUSTARD

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Synonyms:
, , , , / (unfermented), / , , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • must — must …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • müstə’mərə — ə. müstəmləkə …   Klassik Azərbaycan ədəbiyyatında islənən ərəb və fars sözləri lüğəti

  • must — must1 [must] v.aux. pt.must [ME moste, pt., had to < OE, pt. of motan, may, akin to Goth (ga)mot, (I) find room, am permitted, prob. < IE * mōt , var. of * med , to measure > METE1] 1. used to express compulsion, obligation, requirement …   English World dictionary

  • Must — (m[u^]st), v. i. or auxiliary. [OE. moste, a pret. generally meaning, could, was free to, pres. mot, moot, AS. m[=o]ste, pret. m[=o]t, pres.; akin to D. moetan to be obliged, OS. m[=o]tan to be free, to be obliged, OHG. muozan, G. m[ u]ssen to be …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Must FM — Logo de Must FM Création 16 avril 1993 Langue Français Pays   …   Wikipédia en Français

  • must — [ mɶst ] n. m. • 1981; av. 1973 (marque déposée); mot angl. ♦ Anglic. Fam. Ce qu il faut savoir ou faire pour être à la mode (⇒ impératif); ce qu il y a de mieux. Ce logiciel, c est le must. ⇒ 2. top. Le must de la saison. ● must nom masculin… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • must — MUST, musturi, s.n. 1. Suc dulce care nu a început încă să fermenteze, obţinut prin zdrobirea şi presarea boabelor de struguri sau, p. ext., a altor fructe ori plante. 2. Zeamă, suc pe care îl conţin unele fructe. 3. Seva arborilor. 4. (pop.)… …   Dicționar Român

  • must — The use of must informally as a noun meaning ‘something that must be done or had, or that should not be missed’, dates from the 1890s in American use. In the earlier part of the 20c, it was often written in inverted commas as being not quite… …   Modern English usage

  • Must — Must, n. [AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. {Mustard}.] 1. The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation. These men ben full of must. Wyclif (Acts ii. 13.). [1913 Webster] No… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Must B 21 — студийный альбом will.i.am …   Википедия

  • Must B 21 — Studio album by will.i.am Released September 23, 2003 …   Wikipedia

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