moisir

Forms

moisir^[1] Old French muisir, musir, the participles moisiz, musiz and moussiz.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mūceō (“to be mouldy”), a verb Cato used of wine.^[2][5][3][1] The long vowel gave the Old French type muisir;^[2][3] the type with ⟨oi⟩ supposes a form with short /u/, *mŭceō, probably altered under the influence of musteus (“sweet like must, juicy”), from mustum (“must”) (compare moût), or of *muscidus, the source of moite.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg posit a popular Latin *mūciō with a change of conjugation, its vowel perhaps due to the same influence.^[6] Wiktionary compares the unusual ⟨oi⟩ with foison and froment, and notes that the infinitive in -ir is the regular outcome of the Latin second conjugation after a palatalized consonant, as in gésir and plaisir.^[1]

Rey traces the Latin verb to an Indo-European root meaning “to be slimy”, seen in Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa, “mucus”).^[3] The Latin adjective meaning “sweet like must” itself survives in the dialect adjective moise or mouise “damp, mouldy” of Burgundy, Lorraine and the Dauphiné.^[2][3] Cognate with Old Occitan mozir.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as the participle in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au Lion (1176–81), in pains moisiz, “mouldy loaves”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Already about 1200 the verb was used figuratively of money that lies unused, tant lo garde enclos qu'il musist in the Poème moral.^[2][3] Of a person, “to wait, to stay a long time in one place” is found about 1460 (Villon); this sense passed into slang and in the 19th century into popular usage (Delvau, 1867).^[3][8] The participle became a noun, le moisi, before 1465, and a transitive use “to make mouldy” is recorded by Furetière in 1690.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1176–1181 – The participle moisiz appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au Lion.^[2]
• c. 1200 – The Poème moral uses it of money left unproductive.^[2]
• 1228 – Jean Renart writes pastez moussiz.^[2]
• c. 1400 – The derivative moisissure appears.^[3]
• c. 1460 – Villon uses it of people waiting idly.^[3][8]
• before 1465 – Charles d'Orléans uses moisy as a noun.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the transitive use.^[2]
• 1867 – Delvau records the popular sense “to hang about”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go mouldy, to spoil from damp, becoming covered with moisissure.^[9][2]
2. (figurative) Of a thing, to lie unused or unproductive.^[9][8]
3. (familiar) Of a person, to wait or stay a long time in the same place, wasting one's time.^[9][8][1]
4. (transitive) To make mouldy.^[7][2]

Word family

• moisi
• moisissure

Related words

• moite
• mucus
• Latin mūceō

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 m n o 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 181b
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert