must
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (stressed) IPA(key): /ˈmʌst/
- (unstressed) IPA(key): /məs(t)/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌst
- Homophone: mussed
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English moste ("must", literally, "had to", the past tense of Middle English moten (“to have to”)), from Old English mōste (“had to”), 1st & 3rd person singular past tense of mōtan (“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, must, may”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną. Cognate with Dutch moest (“had to”), German musste (“had to”), Swedish måste (“must, have to, be obliged to”). More at mote.
Alternative forms edit
Verb edit
must (third-person singular simple present must, no present participle, simple past must, no past participle)
- (modal auxiliary, defective) To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.
- You must arrive in class on time. (the requirement is an imperative)
- This door handle must be rotated fully. (the requirement is a directive, necessary to operate the handle)
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 9:6:
- Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
- (modal auxiliary, defective) To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.
- If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
- You picked one of two, and it wasn't the first: it must have been the second.
- (modal auxiliary, defective) Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
- The children must be asleep by now.
Usage notes edit
- (auxiliary, to do as a requirement): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating mere intent for the predicate’s execution; and stronger auxiliary verb will, indicating that the negative consequence will be unusually severe.
- (auxiliary, to do with certainty): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating a strong probability of the predicate’s execution.
- The past tense of “must” is also “must”. In main clauses, this use of the past tense is almost always literary (see King James Bible, Leiber, and Alcott quotations at Citations:must). In subordinate clauses, it is more common: He knew what he must do. Otherwise, the past sense is usually conveyed by had to. It is possible to use was bound to for the past also. For this reason, have to and be bound to are also used as alternatives to must in the present and future.
- The principal verb, if easily supplied (especially go), may be omitted. In modern usage this is mainly literary (see Housman and Tolkien quotations at Citations:must).
- Must is unusual in its negation: must not still expresses a definite certainty or requirement. Need and have to, on the other hand, are negated in the usual manner. Compare:
- You must not read that book. (It is necessary that you not read that book.)
- You need not read that book. / You do not have to read that book. (It is not necessary that you read that book.)
Conjugation edit
infinitive | — | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | must, mote† | must | |
2nd-person singular | must, mote†, motest† | ||
3rd-person singular | must, mote† | ||
plural | must, mote† | ||
subjunctive | must, mote† | must | |
imperative | — | ||
participles | — |
Derived terms edit
- all good things must come to an end
- Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
- cooler heads must prevail
- cool heads must prevail
- every dog must have his day
- every dog must have its day
- I must go
- I must say
- must-buy
- must get in front
- must have killed a Chinaman
- must-learn
- must-link
- must-listening
- must-move
- must needs
- must-read
- must-try
- needs must
- needs must when the devil drives
- there must be something in the water
- the show must go on
- the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must
- what goes up must come down
- you must be fun at parties
- you must be new here
- you must spoil before you spin
Translations edit
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See also edit
Noun edit
must (plural musts)
Descendants edit
- → French: must
Translations edit
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Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English must, from Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.
Noun edit
must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)
- The property of being stale or musty.
- Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
- Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes.
- c. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ovid in Exile:
- No sweet grape lies hidden here in the shade of its vine-leaves,
No fermenting must fills and o'erflows the deep vats.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Verb edit
must (third-person singular simple present musts, present participle musting, simple past and past participle musted)
- (transitive) To make musty.
- (intransitive) To become musty.
Further reading edit
Etymology 3 edit
From Persian مست (mast, “drunk, inebriated”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭮𐭲 (mast).
Noun edit
must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)
- Alternative form of musth
- 1936, George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant, an essay in the magazine New Writing:
- It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’.
- 1936, George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant, an essay in the magazine New Writing:
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From English must, from Old English mōste, from the past tense of Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, whence native moeten.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
must m (plural musts)
- a must (necessity, prerequisite)
- Synonym: moetje
- Een rijbewijs is een must als je taxichauffeur wil worden.
- A driver's license is a must if you want to be a taxi driver.
Estonian edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Finnic *musta. Cognate with Finnish musta, Veps must and Livonian mustā. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *mus-ta-, compare Norwegian Bokmål must (“steam, fume, mist”).[1]
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
must (genitive musta, partitive musta, comparative mustem, superlative kõige mustem or mustim)
- black (color)
- Lindude sulestik on must, aga tiibadel märkame valget laiku.
- The plumage of the birds is black, but you can notice a white spot on the wings.
- Dark, without light, illumination (and poorly visible).
- Mustad sügisööd.
- Dark autumn nights.
- Without snow.
- Maa on must ja kelgutada ei saa.
- The ground is without snow and you can't go sledding.
- Having dark skin.
- Must poiss muudkui naeris.
- The black kid kept laughing.
- Dirty, unclean, full of garbage and/or grime.
- Synonym: räpane
- Mu riided said mustaks ja pidin neid pesema.
- My clothes became dirty and I had to wash them.
- Grim, dreary, hopeless, without any (good) solution.
- Meeleolu on must.
- The mood around here is dark.
- Illegal, unofficial, disgraceful.
- Kartsin, et mu mustad teod tulevad päevavalgele.
- I feared, that my dark acts will come to light.
Declension edit
Declension of must (ÕS type 22i/külm, length gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
nominative | must | mustad | |
accusative | nom. | ||
gen. | musta | ||
genitive | mustade | ||
partitive | musta | musti mustasid | |
illative | musta mustasse |
mustadesse mustisse | |
inessive | mustas | mustades mustis | |
elative | mustast | mustadest mustist | |
allative | mustale | mustadele mustile | |
adessive | mustal | mustadel mustil | |
ablative | mustalt | mustadelt mustilt | |
translative | mustaks | mustadeks mustiks | |
terminative | mustani | mustadeni | |
essive | mustana | mustadena | |
abessive | mustata | mustadeta | |
comitative | mustaga | mustadega |
Noun edit
must (genitive musta, partitive musta)
- The color black.
- Halli värvi kombineerdes musta ja valgega suurendad enda usaldatavust.
- By combining gray with black and white, you increase your own reliability.
- Something colored in black.
- Otsustasime, kumb mängib valgete, kumb mustadega.
- We decided, who plays with whites (white chesspieces), and who plays with blacks (black chesspieces).
- A person having dark skin.
- Meie tulevikulootus ei ole enam lapsed, vaid hoopis mustad.
- Our hopes for the future aren't our children anymore, but blacks.
Declension edit
Declension of must (ÕS type 22i/külm, length gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
nominative | must | mustad | |
accusative | nom. | ||
gen. | musta | ||
genitive | mustade | ||
partitive | musta | musti mustasid | |
illative | musta mustasse |
mustadesse mustisse | |
inessive | mustas | mustades mustis | |
elative | mustast | mustadest mustist | |
allative | mustale | mustadele mustile | |
adessive | mustal | mustadel mustil | |
ablative | mustalt | mustadelt mustilt | |
translative | mustaks | mustadeks mustiks | |
terminative | mustani | mustadeni | |
essive | mustana | mustadena | |
abessive | mustata | mustadeta | |
comitative | mustaga | mustadega |
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
See also edit
References edit
Finnish edit
Etymology 1 edit
A variant of musta < minusta (“of me”).
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
must
- (colloquial) elative singular of mä
- Must on tärkeetä, että.. / Minusta on tärkeää, että... (standard)
- I think it is important that...
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
must (colloquial)
- must (something mandatory or required)
- Se on ihan must!
- It's a must!
Declension edit
- Not inflected.
Synonyms edit
Further reading edit
- “must”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
must m (plural musts)
- (informal) that which is compulsory; an obligation; duty; must
- 2003, Élisabeth Badinter, Fausse route, Odile Jacob, →ISBN:
- Comme le fait remarquer Daphne Patai, Loïs Pineau, contrairement à Catherine MacKinnon, postule que les femmes sont tout à fait capables de donner un consentement explicite et verbal sans en rester au geste et au sous-entendu. Non seulement l’explicitation n’est pas un problème, mais c’est un must.
- As Daphne Patai points out, Loïs Pineau, unlike Catherine MacKinnon, postulates that women are entirely capable of giving explicit and verbal consent without relying on gesture and insinuation. Not only is explanation not a problem, but it's a must.
- (often humorous) must-have (item that one must own)
- 2014, Annie Ernaux, Regarde les lumières mon amour, Seuil, →ISBN, page 62:
- La fête des Mères s’affiche partout dans le centre commercial. À Auchan, un espace lui est réservé, rempli de robots, d’aspirateurs, de machines à café – le must apparemment – parfums, etc.
- Mother's Day is on display everywhere in the mall. At Auchan, a space is reserved for it, filled with appliances, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers — the apparent must-have — perfumes, etc.
Hungarian edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
must (usually uncountable, plural mustok)
- must (sweet fresh grape juice that has not fermented yet)
Declension edit
Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | must | mustok |
accusative | mustot | mustokat |
dative | mustnak | mustoknak |
instrumental | musttal | mustokkal |
causal-final | mustért | mustokért |
translative | musttá | mustokká |
terminative | mustig | mustokig |
essive-formal | mustként | mustokként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | mustban | mustokban |
superessive | muston | mustokon |
adessive | mustnál | mustoknál |
illative | mustba | mustokba |
sublative | mustra | mustokra |
allative | musthoz | mustokhoz |
elative | mustból | mustokból |
delative | mustról | mustokról |
ablative | musttól | mustoktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
musté | mustoké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
mustéi | mustokéi |
Possessive forms of must | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | mustom | mustjaim |
2nd person sing. | mustod | mustjaid |
3rd person sing. | mustja | mustjai |
1st person plural | mustunk | mustjaink |
2nd person plural | mustotok | mustjaitok |
3rd person plural | mustjuk | mustjaik |
Further reading edit
- must in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Ludian edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Finnic *musta.
Adjective edit
must
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
must (uncountable)
Descendants edit
- English: must
References edit
- “must, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Latin mustum, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mews- (“damp”).
Noun edit
must n (plural musturi)
- unfermented wine; grape or other fruit juice
- must (of grapes)
Declension edit
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) must | mustul | (niște) musturi | musturile |
genitive/dative | (unui) must | mustului | (unor) musturi | musturilor |
vocative | mustule | musturilor |
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
See also edit
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse muster, moster, from Latin mustum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
must c (uncountable)
- (drink made from) fruit or berry juice (that has been prevented from fermenting)
- a kind of soft drink, more commonly known as julmust
Declension edit
Declension of must | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Uncountable | ||||
Indefinite | Definite | |||
Nominative | must | musten | — | — |
Genitive | musts | mustens | — | — |
See also edit
- must on the Swedish Wikipedia.Wikipedia sv
References edit
- must in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- must in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- must in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Anagrams edit
Veps edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Finnic *musta.
Adjective edit
must
Inflection edit
Inflection of must (inflection type 6/kuva) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative sing. | must | ||
genitive sing. | mustan | ||
partitive sing. | mustad | ||
partitive plur. | mustid | ||
singular | plural | ||
nominative | must | mustad | |
accusative | mustan | mustad | |
genitive | mustan | mustiden | |
partitive | mustad | mustid | |
essive-instructive | mustan | mustin | |
translative | mustaks | mustikš | |
inessive | mustas | mustiš | |
elative | mustaspäi | mustišpäi | |
illative | mustaha mustha |
mustihe | |
adessive | mustal | mustil | |
ablative | mustalpäi | mustilpäi | |
allative | mustale | mustile | |
abessive | mustata | mustita | |
comitative | mustanke | mustidenke | |
prolative | mustadme | mustidme | |
approximative I | mustanno | mustidenno | |
approximative II | mustannoks | mustidennoks | |
egressive | mustannopäi | mustidennopäi | |
terminative I | mustahasai musthasai |
mustihesai | |
terminative II | mustalesai | mustilesai | |
terminative III | mustassai | — | |
additive I | mustahapäi musthapäi |
mustihepäi | |
additive II | mustalepäi | mustilepäi |
Derived terms edit
Noun edit
must
Inflection edit
Inflection of must (inflection type 6/kuva) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative sing. | must | ||
genitive sing. | mustan | ||
partitive sing. | mustad | ||
partitive plur. | mustid | ||
singular | plural | ||
nominative | must | mustad | |
accusative | mustan | mustad | |
genitive | mustan | mustiden | |
partitive | mustad | mustid | |
essive-instructive | mustan | mustin | |
translative | mustaks | mustikš | |
inessive | mustas | mustiš | |
elative | mustaspäi | mustišpäi | |
illative | mustaha mustha |
mustihe | |
adessive | mustal | mustil | |
ablative | mustalpäi | mustilpäi | |
allative | mustale | mustile | |
abessive | mustata | mustita | |
comitative | mustanke | mustidenke | |
prolative | mustadme | mustidme | |
approximative I | mustanno | mustidenno | |
approximative II | mustannoks | mustidennoks | |
egressive | mustannopäi | mustidennopäi | |
terminative I | mustahasai musthasai |
mustihesai | |
terminative II | mustalesai | mustilesai | |
terminative III | mustassai | — | |
additive I | mustahapäi musthapäi |
mustihepäi | |
additive II | mustalepäi | mustilepäi |
References edit
Volapük edit
Noun edit
must (nominative plural musts)
- must (new wine; sweet cider)
Declension edit
Võro edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Finnic *musta.
Adjective edit
must (genitive musta, partitive musta)
- black (colour)
Inflection edit
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | must | mustaq |
accusative | musta | mustaq |
genitive | musta | muste |
partitive | musta | muste |
illative | musta | muste mustehe |
inessive | mustan mustahn |
musten mustehn |
elative | mustast | mustest |
allative | mustalõ | mustelõ |
adessive | mustal | mustel |
ablative | mustalt | mustelt |
translative | mustas | mustes |
terminative | mustaniq | musteniq |
abessive | mustaldaq | musteldaq |
comitative | mustagaq | mustegaq |