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moscat

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Etymology and origin of the Catalan word moscat

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1249 a toll list of Cotlliure, in the form noscades More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin muscatus
Ultimate origin
Late Latin muscus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek μόσχος (móskhos)
Latin mūscus
English musk
Latin muscātus
Catalan moscat
The word's journey
From the same root
Latin mūscōsus ← mūscus

Pronunciation

  • Central, Northern: [musˈkat][1]
  • Balearic, Northwestern, Valencia: [mosˈkat][1]

Forms

moscat (feminine moscada, masculine plural moscats, feminine plural moscades)[1] Medieval texts write moscat and muscat, in 1361 and later, and moschat.[2][3] In the phrase for nutmeg the word was usually noscada, with the n- of nou carried over: nous noscades.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin muscatus (“smelling of musk”), from Late Latin muscus (“musk”).[4][5][6] Wiktionary calls it inherited from the Late Latin word.[1] The GDLC and Bruguera say that the Latin noun came from Persian; the Catalan mesc “musk” is the same Persian word through Arabic مسك (misk).[5][6]

The French name of the grape and wine is French muscat.[2] From the Provençal sense “perfumed with musk” came Occitan muscadin, a dandy, which passed into French, and Roussillon said ⟨moscatí⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in the name of nutmeg: a toll list of Cotlliure of 1249 has a load of nous noscades.[2] As the name of the grape it appears in 1361, del millor moscat que sia en Perpenyà, quatre somades “four loads of the best muscat there is in Perpignan”, and in some fifteen more documents up to 1395, about half spelt with mo- and half with mu-.[2] Bruguera and the GDLC date the word to 1361.[6][5]

Semantic evolution

From the grape the name passed to the wine made from it, and in the medieval documents it is not always clear which is meant.[2] Faraudo records the wine in Jaume Roig, who lists moschats e grechs among fine wines, and in a Valencian account of 1492.[3] The derivative moscatell is recorded from 1487 and became the usual name of the grape and its wine.[6] Moscat in that sense is now Northern Catalan, and in Roussillon it names the wine.[6][2][7]

The adjective kept the sense “smelling or tasting of musk”: a medieval Valencian recipe book prescribes nous moscades against vomiting.[3] Pal·las in 1927 applies it to fruits thought to taste or smell of musk.[8]

Timeline

  • 1249 – nous noscades “nutmegs” in a toll list of Cotlliure.[2]
  • 1361 – the best moscat of Perpignan, the first record of the grape.[2][5]
  • 1460 – Jaume Roig's Spill names moschats among wines.[3]
  • 1487 – first record of the derivative moscatell.[6]
  • 1927 – Pal·las defines the adjective for fruits with a musky taste or smell.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Smelling or tasting of musk, musky; said especially of fruits.[5][9][1]
  2. nou moscada: nutmeg.[2][3]

Noun

  1. (Northern Catalan) The muscat grape, and the sweet wine made from it; moscatell.[7][10][1]

Word family

  • moscatell
  • mesc
  • almesc
  • Medieval Latin muscatus
  • French muscat

Usage notes

The DCVB has a separate moscat formed from mosca “fly”: said of plants eaten by flies or attacked by a parasitic fly, and figuratively “confused, ashamed”.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 620
  3. ^ a b c d e Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. moscat
  4. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. moscat
  5. ^ a b c d e Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. moscat
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 588
  7. ^ a b Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. moscat
  8. ^ a b Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. moscat
  9. ^ Ferrer Pastor, Francesc (1985), Diccionari general, València, p. s.v. moscat
  10. ^ Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. moscat

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Moscat.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ca/moscat. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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