moisten

Etymology

It is formed from English moist + -en.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} The earlier verb was simply moist, from the mid-14th century,^[3][2] either from Old French moistir and the Anglo-Norman verb, or from the English adjective;^[2][3] the OED notes that some Middle English forms in -en of that verb could belong to moisten, though no finite or participial form of it is recorded so early.^[2] The adjective moist is from Anglo-Norman moiste and moiste (“damp, wet”), now French moite,^[2][3][7] of uncertain and disputed origin: perhaps from Vulgar Latin *mucidus, from Latin mūcidus (“slimy, moldy”), from mūcus (“slime”), influenced by musteus (“juicy, fresh”).^[8][3][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Figuratively, to nourish or refresh, or to soften the heart: 1549, in W. Baldwin's Canticles of Salomon, a rare sense obsolete after 1661.^[2] The literal sense, to make moist or damp, follows in 1559, in Morwyng's translation of Gesner's Treasure of Euonymus,^[2][4] and Etymonline dates the verb to the 1570s.^[3] Barnhart finds it first implied in moistened in Sidney's translation of the Psalms (1580).^[8]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense "to refresh" soon gave way to the literal "to make damp"; from 1567 the verb was used especially of wetting the lips or throat with drink, or of taking a drink.^[2][5] The intransitive "to become moist", also of eyes filling with tears, is recorded from 1755, in a letter of Horace Walpole.^[2] Johnson (1755) entered moist and moisten together, defining them as "to make damp; to make wet to a small degree".^[9] The drinking sense lived on in slang: moisten one's clay, to drink, is recorded in Scots and Derbyshire dialect and in Dickens's Old Curiosity Shop (1840),^[10] and in American slang moisten alone meant to have a drink (1882).^[11]

Timeline

• 1549 – figuratively, to nourish, refresh, or soften the heart (obsolete by 1661).^[2]
• 1559 – to make moist, damp or wet.^[2][4]
• 1567 – to wet the lips or throat with drink; to have a drink.^[2]
• 1755 – intransitive, to become moist; of eyes, to fill with tears.^[2]
• 1882 – in American slang, to have a drink.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make slightly wet; to dampen: She moistened the stamp before sticking it on.^[12][4][2]
2. To become moist; of the eyes, to fill with tears: His eyes moistened as he read the letter.^[12][2][5]
3. To wet the lips or throat with a drink.^[2][5]

Word family

• moistener
• premoistened
• overmoisten
• remoisten

Related words

• moist
• moisture

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins