Etymologically
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moisture

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃə/ (UK); /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃɚ/, /ˈmɔɪʃ.t͡ʃɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English moisture, borrowed from Old French moistour (“moisture, dampness, wetness”),[2][3] with the ending changed under the influence of -ure,[4] from moiste (“moist”) (see moist).[2][4][3] The modern French form is moiteur.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Diffused, perceptible wetness: the mid-14th century in Etymonline,[2] and water or another liquid diffused as vapour in the OED from ?before 1366.[5] The New Oxford notes an early sense of moistness.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages it also meant the liquid part of a body, and in medieval philosophy the humours, from 1398.[5] Tears were called moisture from 1597.[5] Liquid in general (from 1530) and a noxious exhalation (from 1542) are obsolete senses.[5] A verb, to moisten, existed from 1471.[5]

Timeline

  • ?a1366 – water diffused as vapour.[5]
  • 1398 – moistness; the liquid part of a body.[5]
  • 1471 – moisture (verb), to moisten.[5]
  • 1597 – tears.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Water or other liquid spread through the air as vapour or condensed on or in things; dampness.
  2. The state of being damp.

Word family

  • moistureless
  • moist
  • moisten
  • moisturise
  • moisturize
  • moisturizer
  • mucus

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press