Etymologically
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mouth

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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
  • 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