mucilage

English

Etymology

From Middle English muscilage, mussillage, from Middle French mucilage (“viscous substance found in vegetable material”), from Late Latin mūcilāgō (“musty or moldy juice”). See Greek μούχλα (moúchla, “mold”), and related derivatives, for example mushroom, from *meus- (“mosses, mold, mildew”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmjuː.sɪ.lɪd͡ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmju.sɪ.lɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈmju.sə.lɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

mucilage (usually uncountable, plural mucilages)

1. A thick gluey substance (gum) produced by many plants and some microorganisms.
   • 1821, Friedrich Accum, A Treatise on the Art of Brewing, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, page 5:

     Malt liquors […] are distinguished from wine, chiefly by the larger quantity of mucilage and saccharine matter […]

Derived terms

• marine mucilage

 

Related terms

• mucilaginous

Translations

thick gluey substance produced by many plants

• Bulgarian: клей (bg) m (klej)
• Dutch: gom (nl), slijmstof
• Finnish: kasviliima
• German: Schleimstoff m
• Ido: mucilajo (io)
• Middle English: muscilage
• Portuguese: mucilagem (pt) f
• Spanish: mucílago (es) m
• Turkish: müsilaj

Further reading

• mucilage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mūcilāgō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /my.si.laʒ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

mucilage m (usually uncountable, plural mucilages)

1. mucilage

Descendants

• → Turkish: müsilaj

Further reading

• “mucilage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.