moisture English · revision 15266

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-14th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃɚ/, /ˈmɔɪʃ.t͡ʃɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|moisture]], [[bor|fro|moistour|t=moisture, dampness, wetness]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) with the ending changed under the influence of [[-ure]],^(MWU 2024) from [[m|fro|moiste|t=moist]] (see [[moist]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) The modern French form is [[m|fr|moiteur]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Diffused, perceptible wetness: the mid-14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and water or another liquid diffused as vapour in the OED from ?before 1366.^(OED 1989) The New Oxford notes an early sense of moistness.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Middle Ages it also meant the liquid part of a body, and in medieval philosophy the humours, from 1398.^(OED 1989) Tears were called moisture from 1597.^(OED 1989) Liquid in general (from 1530) and a noxious exhalation (from 1542) are obsolete senses.^(OED 1989) A verb, to moisten, existed from 1471.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * ?a1366 – water diffused as vapour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1398 – moistness; the liquid part of a body.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1471 – moisture (verb), to moisten.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1597 – tears.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Water or other liquid spread through the air as [[vapour]] or condensed on or in things; [[dampness]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The state of being damp.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[moistureless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[moist]]

+ * [[moisten]]

+ * [[moisturise]]

+ * [[moisturize]]

+ * [[moisturizer]]

+ * [[mucus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}