mouth

Pronunciation

• IPA: noun /maʊθ/, verb /maʊð/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mouthe,^[2] inherited from Old English mūþ (“mouth; opening, door”),^[3][2] from Proto-Germanic *munthaz,^[2][4] the source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian mūth, Dutch mond, German Mund, Old Norse munnr and Gothic munþs.^[3][2] Old English lost the nasal before th, as in tooth.^[3][2] The wider origin is disputed:^[3] it may be related to Latin mentum “chin” and Welsh mant “jawbone”,^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to project”), with a shift from “chin” to “mouth”.^[3][2] Merriam-Webster compares Latin mandere “to chew”.^[5] The verb is from the noun.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The opening through which an animal or person takes food: before 830, in the Vespasian Psalter.^[2] The OED's first example is from about 897, of the mouth as what swallows food.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The outfall of a river is from late Old English,^[3] and the opening of a bottle, cave or other container from the mid-13th century.^[3] To put words in someone's mouth is from the late 14th century,^[3] word of mouth by the 1550s,^[3] to take the words out of someone's mouth from the 1520s,^[3] and down in the mouth, “dejected”, from the 1640s, from the corners of the mouth turning down.^[3] Mouth organ is from before 1668^[2] and mouthpiece from 1683.^[2] The verb meant “to speak” before 1325;^[2] in the 17th and 18th centuries it was used especially of pompous or affected speech,^[3] and forming words with the lips without sound is by 1953.^[3] Mouth-to-mouth is from 1909.^[3]

Timeline

• before 830 – the mouth.^[2]
• late Old English – a river mouth.^[3]
• mid-13th century – any opening.^[3]
• before 1325 – verb, to speak.^[2]
• 1550s – word of mouth.^[3]
• 1640s – down in the mouth.^[3]
• 1683 – mouthpiece.^[2]
• 1909 – mouth-to-mouth.^[3]
• 1953 – verb, to form words silently.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The opening through which an animal takes in food, with the lips, tongue and teeth.
2. An opening, entrance or outlet: the mouth of a cave.
3. The place where a river flows into a larger body of water.
4. (informal) Impudent or boastful talk.

Verb

1. To say in a pompous way, or without meaning it.
2. To form words with the lips without making a sound.
3. To take or move about in the mouth.

Word family

• mouthlike
• mouther
• mouthless

Related words

• tooth
• mandible

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press