moût

Forms

moût m (plural moûts)^[1] Old and Middle French moust; the spelling moût dates from the 17th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French moust, inherited from Latin mustum (“unfermented grape juice, new wine”).^[5][6][1][7] The Latin noun is the neuter of the adjective mustus (“new”) used as a noun;^[8][2] Rey calls it a rustic word with no clear origin.^[8][2] Wiktionary links it to a root Proto-Indo-European *mus- (“damp”).^[1] The circumflex marks the ⟨s⟩ lost from the Old French spelling.^[2]

Cognate with Occitan most, Catalan most, Spanish mosto and Italian mosto.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF date moust to about 1112, in the Voyage de saint Brendan;^[3][2] the TLFi's first record is in Aldebrandin of Siena's Régime du corps (about 1256), for grape juice meant for wine that has not yet fermented.^[5] Littré quotes from Aldebrandin: Quant roisin sont cuit u vin novel, u quant il sont demouré en moust (“when grapes are cooked in new wine, or when they have remained as must”).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense of fresh, unfermented grape juice.^[8] In 1611 Cotgrave extended it, by analogy, to the juice of other fruit and plants used to make alcoholic drinks, such as apples, pears, beet or barley;^[5][8] brewers' moût, the sweet liquid got by steeping crushed malt in boiling water, is recorded by Larousse in 1903.^[2]

In the 13th century it gave moutarde (1223, moustarde), a condiment first made with grape must; the English word mustard comes from it.^[8][6] Littré records the saying cela n’a ni goût ni moût of a dish without seasoning and, figuratively, of a dull story or book.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1112 – Moust in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[3][2]
• 1223 – The derivative moustarde (later moutarde) appears.^[8]
• c. 1256 – Aldebrandin of Siena uses it of unfermented grape juice.^[5]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the juice of other fruit and plants.^[5][2]
• 17th century – The spelling moût appears.^[2]
• 1903 – Larousse records the brewers' sense “wort”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. must: grape juice freshly pressed, before alcoholic fermentation.^[9][5]
2. The juice of apples or pears pressed to make cidre or poiré.^[9][2]
3. A plant juice prepared for fermentation, such as brewers' wort.^[9][2][1]

Word family

• moutarde
• moutardier

Related words

• Latin mustum

Usage notes

Moût is pronounced like mou and moue.^[9] Littré notes that the final t is never sounded, even before a vowel.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 271a
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert