mushroom

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmʌʃɹuːm/, /ˈmʌʃɹʊm/^[1]

Etymology

It is an alteration, by folk etymology, of inherited from Middle English musheron,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} borrowed from Anglo-Norman musherun, from Old French mousseron,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Late Latin mussiriō,^[3][5][6] which might itself be borrowed from French.^[4] Barnhart calls it of uncertain origin.^[3][4] The OED and Weekley derive the French word from mousse “moss”, as properly naming a mushroom that grows in moss, but Klein rejects this.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fungus of one of the larger umbrella-shaped kinds, also called toadstool (15th century; about 1440 in Barnhart).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The modern spelling dates from 1563.^[3][4] From the 1590s the word was used of an upstart, a person or family that suddenly rises from a low station.^[7][4] The adjective, “springing up suddenly”, is from 1599,^[3] and the verb “to expand or increase rapidly” is from 1741–47,^[4][3][7] with a sense of a bullet flattening on impact (1893).^[7][5] The mushroom cloud of an explosion takes its name from the shape.^[4][6]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – muscheron, a mushroom.^[3][4]
• 1563 – the spelling mushroom.^[3]
• before 1593 – an upstart.^[7]
• 1599 – adjective.^[3]
• 1747 – verb.^[3][7]
• 1903 – verb, to expand rapidly.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The fleshy fruiting body of various fungi, typically an umbrella-shaped cap on a stalk, especially an edible one such as those of the genus Agaricus.
2. Something shaped like a mushroom, such as the cloud of an explosion.
3. A person who has risen suddenly from a low position; an upstart.

Verb

1. To grow, multiply or expand rapidly.
2. To spread out into a mushroom shape.
3. To gather mushrooms.

Adjective

1. Of, containing or resembling mushrooms, as in shape or rapid growth.

Word family

• mushroomlike
• mushroomy
• magic mushroom
• mushroom cloud

Related words

• toadstool
• fungus
• moss

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press