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mustard

Etymology and origin of the English word mustard

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmʌstəɹd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mustard, borrowed from Old French moustarde,[2][3][4][5][6] from moust “must, new wine”,[3][4][5][6] from Latin mustum (“unfermented wine”),[2][3][4][5] because the condiment was originally made by mixing the ground seeds with must.[3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The ground seeds of the mustard plant, used as a condiment (1289);[7][3] it is found earlier as a surname (1190).[3]

Semantic evolution

The name of the condiment passed to the plant itself by the mid-14th century (1340).[7][4] The colour name, a brownish yellow, dates from 1848.[7][4] In slang mustard meant the best of anything (1903), probably as that which adds flavour, which gave the phrase to cut the mustard, “to reach the required standard” (1907).[4][7] Mustard gas, a poison gas first used at Ypres in 1917, was named for its colour, smell and burning effect, though it contains no mustard.[4]

Timeline

  • 1190 – as a surname.[3]
  • 1289 – the condiment.[7][3]
  • 1340 – the plant.[7]
  • 1848 – a brownish-yellow colour.[7][4]
  • 1907 – to cut the mustard.[4]
  • 1917 – mustard gas.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A pungent yellow paste or powder made from the ground seeds of certain plants, used as a condiment.
  2. Any of various plants of the genus Brassica and related genera, with yellow flowers, grown for their pungent seeds.
  3. A dark yellow to light olive-brown colour.

Adjective

  1. Of a dark yellow colour.

Word family

  • mustardy
  • mustard gas
  • mustard oil
  • mustard plaster
  • must
  • cress

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 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 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c 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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mustard.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mustard. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·