mushroom English · revision 993

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmʌʃɹuːm/, /ˈmʌʃɹʊm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration, by folk etymology, of [[inh|enm|musheron]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[bor|xno|musherun]], from Old French ''mousseron'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la-lat|mussiriō]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) which might itself be borrowed from French.^(Etymonline) Barnhart calls it of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The OED and Weekley derive the French word from ''mousse'' “moss”, as properly naming a mushroom that grows in moss, but Klein rejects this.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fungus of one of the larger umbrella-shaped kinds, also called ''toadstool'' (15th century; about 1440 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern spelling dates from 1563.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) From the 1590s the word was used of an upstart, a person or family that suddenly rises from a low station.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The adjective, “springing up suddenly”, is from 1599,^(Barnhart 1995) and the verb “to expand or increase rapidly” is from 1741–47,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) with a sense of a bullet flattening on impact (1893).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The ''mushroom cloud'' of an explosion takes its name from the shape.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1440 – ''muscheron'', a mushroom.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1563 – the spelling ''mushroom''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1593 – an upstart.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – adjective.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1747 – verb.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1903 – verb, to expand rapidly.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fleshy fruiting body of various [[fungus|alt=fungi]], typically an umbrella-shaped cap on a stalk, especially an edible one such as those of the genus ''Agaricus''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something shaped like a mushroom, such as the cloud of an explosion.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A person who has risen suddenly from a low position; an [[upstart]].^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To grow, multiply or expand rapidly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To spread out into a mushroom shape.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To gather mushrooms.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, containing or resembling mushrooms, as in shape or rapid growth.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mushroomlike]]

+ * [[mushroomy]]

+ * [[magic mushroom]]

+ * [[mushroom cloud]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toadstool]]

+ * [[fungus]]

+ * [[moss]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}