must English · revision 1835

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *mōtaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mʌst/, /məst/^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|moste]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|mōste]], the past tense of [[m|ang|mōtan|t=to be allowed to, be able to, have to]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) from [[gem-pro|*mōtaną]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Its cognates include [[ofs|mōta]], [[osx|mōtan]], [[nl|moeten]], [[de|müssen]] and [[got|𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍄𐌰𐌽|tr=gamōtan|t=to have room]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The further origin is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline mentions an old suggestion, lately doubted, that it comes from [[ine-pro|*med-|t=to take appropriate measures]];^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Merriam-Webster and Barnhart derive it from the stem of Old English [[m|ang|metan|t=to measure]] (see [[mete]]), with a basic meaning “to have allotted to one”,^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) while Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986) Weekley notes that the original idea was room or leisure, as in [[de|Muße|t=leisure]].^(Weekley 1921)^(Hoad 1986) The noun meaning new wine is a separate word, [[inh|ang|must]], [[bor|la|mustum]], short for [[m|la|vīnum mustum|t=fresh wine]], from [[m|la|mustus|t=fresh, new]];^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD) ''must'' “mustiness” is probably a back-formation from [[musty]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(COED 2004) and ''must'' “frenzy of a male elephant” is from [[ur|مست|tr=mast|t=intoxicated]], from Persian.^(COED 2004)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Yule & Burnell 1903)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English ''mōste'' was a past tense, “was allowed, could” or “had to” (about 725, in ''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the past tense of ''mōt'' (later [[mote]]), the word expressed permission or possibility, a sense that lasted until the late 14th century, and necessity in the past, until the late 15th.^(SOED 2002)^(HTOED) It came to be used as a present tense from about 1300, eventually displacing ''mote'', from the custom of using a past subjunctive as a softer, more polite form of the present.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) The original past sense survives in literary use, as in Macaulay's “The government must either submit to Rome, or must obtain the aid of the Protestants”.^(Weekley 1921)^(HTOED) Since it has no other forms, its past is often supplied by ''had to''.^(Chambers 2008) The verb was used as a noun from 1598 in Merriam-Webster (1603 in the OED);^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989) the sense “something that has to be done or seen”, originally American, dates from 1892,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) the adjectival use “indispensable” from 1912,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and ''must-read'' from 1959.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''mōste'', in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 899 – ''must'', new wine.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1131 – ''moste''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1300 – used as a present tense.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1598 – as a noun, a command or obligation.^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+ * 1602 – ''must'', mustiness, mould.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1871 – ''must'' of an elephant in frenzy.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1892 – something that has to be done (US).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1912 – as an adjective, essential.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1959 – ''must-read''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To be obliged or required to, by law, custom or [[morality]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # To be compelled by physical [[necessity]]: ''plants must have oxygen''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Used to express a command or insistence: ''you must not go there alone''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # To be determined to: ''if you must leave''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Used to express what is very likely or logically certain: ''we must be there by now''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' Something essential, or not to be missed.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The juice of [[grape|alt=grapes]] or other fruit before or during [[fermentation]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # Mould; [[musty|alt=mustiness]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A variant of [[musth]], the frenzy of a male elephant.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[must-read]]

+ * [[must-have]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mote]]

+ * [[musty]]

+ * [[musth]]

+ * [[mustard]]

+ * [[mete]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House compares ''must'', ''ought'' and ''should'': ''must'' expresses necessity or compulsion, ''ought'' a weaker obligation or what is desirable, and ''should'' obligation, expectation or probability.^(RHWU) In the sense of obligation ''must not'' expresses a prohibition rather than the absence of an obligation.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}