moult

English

A cicada moulting.
A cockroach moulting.
A cicada molting.

Alternative forms

  • molt (American English)

Etymology

From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre.

Pronunciation

Noun

moult (plural moults)

  1. The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.
    Some birds change colour during their winter moult.
  2. The skin or feathers cast off during the process of moulting.

Translations

Verb

moult (third-person singular simple present moults, present participle moulting, simple past and past participle moulted)

  1. (intransitive) To shed or lose a covering of hair or fur, feathers, skin, horns, etc, and replace it with a fresh one.
  2. (transitive) To shed in such a manner.

Translations


French

Etymology

From Middle French moult, from Old French molt, mout, mult, from Latin multus, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”, past passive participle). Has largely disappeared from spoken language, only preserved in some dialects, and replaced by beaucoup.

Pronunciation

  • (traditional) IPA(key): /mu/
  • (spelling pronunciation) IPA(key): /mult/
  • (file)
  • Homophones: mou, mous

Adverb

moult

  1. (archaic, regional) much; a lot

Adjective

moult (feminine singular moulte, masculine plural moults, feminine plural moultes)

  1. (archaic, regional) many; a lot of
    Synonym: beaucoup

Usage notes

Used both as invariable and variable adjective:

Après moult hésitations, il prit cette décision. (invariable)
After many hesitations he took the decision.
Et, pour finir, moulte chose / Blanche et noire, effet et cause […] (variable)[1]
And, to finish, many a thing / White and black, effect and cause […]

References

  1. ↑ Paul Verlaine (1896), “Prologue”, in Chair, published 1901

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle French

Alternative forms

  • mlt (manuscript abbreviation)

Etymology

From Old French molt, mout, from Latin multus.

Adverb

moult

  1. much; a lot

Derived terms

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