mossy

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English mossy, equivalent to moss +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒsi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːsi/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɒsi
• Rhymes: -ɔːsi

Adjective

mossy (comparative mossier, superlative mossiest)

1. Covered in or overgrown with moss.

   Synonym: moss-grown

   • 1798, [Samuel Rogers], “An Epistle to a Friend”, in An Epistle to a Friend, with Other Poems. […], London: […] R. Noble, for T[homas] Cadell, Junior, and W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, page 10, lines 19–20:

     The moſſy pales that ſkirt the orchard-green, / Here hid by ſhrub-vvood, there by glimpſes ſeen; […]

   • 1798 (date written), W[illiam] Wordsworth, “Song [She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways]”, in Lyrical Ballads, with Other Poems. […], 2nd edition, London: […] T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Co., […], published 1800, →OCLC, page 52:

     A Violet by a mossy stone / Half-hidden from the Eye! / —Fair, as a star when only one / Is shining in the sky!

Derived terms

• mossily
• mossiness
• mossy-back, mossy-backed
• mossy cell
• mossy crêpe
• mossy-cup oak
• mossy fiber, mossy fibre
• mossy foot
• mossy horn
• mossy New Caledonian gecko
• mossy saxifrage
• mossy stonecrop
• mossy zinc
• Vietnamese mossy frog

 

Translations

covered in or overgrown with moss

• Bulgarian: мъхест (bg) (mǎhest)
• Catalan: molsut, molsós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: mossig (nl)
• Esperanto: muska
• Finnish: sammaleinen (fi), sammaloitunut (fi)
• French: moussu (fr) m, moussue (fr) f
• Galician: musgoso, musguento
• Hungarian: mohos (hu), mohlepte (hu)
• Irish: móinteach, móintiúil
• Italian: muscoso m, muscosa f
• Latin: muscōsus
• Polish: omszały m, mszysty (pl)
• Portuguese: musgoso
• Russian: мши́стый (ru) (mšístyj), замше́лый (ru) (zamšélyj), обомше́лый (ru) (obomšélyj)
• Spanish: musgoso
• Swedish: mossig (sv)
• Ukrainian: мохови́тий (moxovýtyj), моха́стий (moxástyj), моши́стий (mošýstyj)

Etymology 2

Noun

mossy (plural mossies or mossys)

1. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Alternative form of mossie (“mosquito”)