moss English · revision 15244

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=975|origins=ine-pro *mews-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔs/, /mɑs/; /mɒs/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mose]], [[inh|ang|mos|t=bog]], related to [[m|ang|mēos|t=moss]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*musą]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) cognate with [[goh|mos|t=moss, bog]] (modern [[m|de|Moos]]) and [[goh|mios]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) it was reinforced by [[non|mosi|t=moss, bog]] and [[la-med|mossa]], from the same Germanic source.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The root is [[ine-pro|*mews-|t=damp]], also seen in [[la|muscus|t=moss]] and [[cu|мъхъ|tr=mŭxŭ|t=moss]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bog, swamp or peat-bog: 975 in the OED and Barnhart, now chiefly Scots and northern dialect.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The plant sense is found from about 1150.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The bog sense comes first in the record, but Word Origins notes this may be chance, since the plant sense follows soon after and both senses occur in the related Germanic languages.^(Cresswell 2021) Hoad suggests the English plant sense may be due to Old Norse.^(Hoad 1986) The proverb ''a rolling stone gathers no moss'' is recorded from 1362.^(OED 1989) The verb, to become mossy, is from the same year.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 975 – a bog.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * ?c. 1150 – the plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1362 – a rolling stone gathers no moss.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1837 – moss, a moss rose.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small green [[nonvascular]] plant, a [[bryophyte]], that grows in dense mats on trees, rocks and damp ground.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A clump or covering of such plants.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of various similar but unrelated plants, as [[club moss]] or [[Spanish moss]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Scotland and northern England)'' A [[bog]] or [[peat]] bog.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover with moss.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mosslike]]

+ * [[mossback]]

+ * [[moss-grown]]

+ * [[moss-trooper]]

+ * [[mossy]]

+ * [[unmossed]]

+ * [[house moss]]

+ * [[moss green]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mire]]

+ * [[mousse]]

+ * [[lichen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The bog sense is in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland and the northern counties of England as far as Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire.^(Wright 1898) The French form [[m|fr|mousse]], moss and foam, came into English in the 19th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}