mustache English · revision 896

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmʌstæʃ/, /məˈstæʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|moustache]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[it|mostaccio]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|μουστάκιον|tr=moustákion]], a Medieval Greek diminutive of Doric ''mústax'' “upper lip, moustache”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The hair growing on the upper lip (1585);^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) earlier English borrowed the Italian form as ''mustachio'' (1551).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plural ''mustachios'' lingered in English because the moustache was sometimes thought of as the hair on either side of the lip.^(Etymonline) Old English had ''cenep'' for a moustache.^(Etymonline) The word is also used of whiskers or bristles round an animal's mouth and of markings near a bird's beak.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) ''Mustache'' is the usual American spelling and ''moustache'' the chiefly British one.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1551 – ''mustachio'', from Italian.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1585 – ''moustache'', from French.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1868 – ''mustache cup''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hair growing on the human upper lip, especially when grown and groomed.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A growth of hairs or bristles about the mouth of an animal, or coloured markings near a bird's beak.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Something resembling a moustache, such as a film of milk on the upper lip.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mustached]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[moustache]]

+ * [[mustachio]]

+ * [[beard]]

+ * [[whisker]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}