Wiktionary

musty

English

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WOTD – 7 December 2022

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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The adjective is derived from Late Middle English musty; further origin uncertain, possibly from one of the following:[1]

Compare Middle French moisi (“mouldy”), an adjective use of the past participle of moisir (“(to cause) to go mouldy, to moulder”) (modern French moisir), from Latin mūcēre, the present active infinitive of Old Latin mūceō (“to be mouldy or musty”): see above.

The English word is analysable as must (“mould; mustiness”) +‎ -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives); however, must is thought to be a back-formation from musty.[5]

The noun[6] and verb[7] are derived from the adjective.

cognates

Adjective

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musty (comparative mustier, superlative mustiest)

  1. Affected by dampness or mould; damp, mildewed, mouldy.
    Synonym: fusty
  2. Having an odour or taste of mould; also (generally), having a stale or unfresh odour or taste.
    Synonym: fusty
    musty food    musty furniture    a musty odour
  3. Characteristic of or relating to mould or mouldiness.
    • 1849, Herman Melville, “He Goes to Supper at the Sign of the Baltimore Clipper”, in Redburn: His First Voyage. […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 172:
      Not knowing what "swipes" might be, I thought I would run the risk and try it; but it proved a miserable beverage, with a musty, sour flavor, as if it had been a decoction of spoiled pickles.
  4. (figuratively)
    1. Of attitudes, ideas, writing, or other abstract things: no longer fresh or interesting; outdated, stale.
      Synonym: outmoded
    2. Of a person: boring and unadventurous; also, old-fashioned, stuck in the past.
      Synonym: fogeyish
      • 1637 July, Robert Sanderson, “[Ad Aulam.] Sermon VI. Otelands, July 1637.”, in XXXIV Sermons. […], 5th edition, London: […] [A. Clark] for A. Seil, and are to be sold by G. Sawbridge, […], published 1671, →OCLC, paragraph 10, page 81:
        [T]hey ſettle upon their ovvn dregs, and grovv muddy and muſty vvith long eaſe, and their proſperity befooleth them to their ovvn deſtruction.
      • 1712 September 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, September 12, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 482; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 375:
        [B]eing married to a bookish man, who has no knowledge of the world, she is forced to take their affairs into her own hands, and to spirit him up now and then, that he may not grow musty, and unfit for conversation.
        The spelling has been modernized.
      • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Adventure of the Little Antiquary”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 3 (The Italian Banditti), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC, page 33:
        My friend the doctor was a thorough antiquary: a little rusty, musty old fellow, always groping among ruins.
    3. (archaic except Northern England (northwest)) Bad-tempered, grumpy, irritable.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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musty (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) A type of snuff with a musty flavour (adjective sense 2).

Verb

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musty (third-person singular simple present musties, present participle mustying, simple past and past participle mustied)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To turn musty (adjective sense 1 or 2); to must.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of musty
infinitive (to) musty
present tense past tense
1st-person singular musty mustied
2nd-person singular musty, mustiest† mustied, mustiedst†
3rd-person singular musties, mustieth† mustied
plural musty
subjunctive musty mustied
imperative musty —
participles mustying mustied

†Archaic or obsolete.

Etymology 2

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From musth (“time during which male elephants exhibit increased levels of sexual activity and aggressiveness”) +‎ -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives).[8]

Adjective

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musty (comparative more musty, superlative most musty)

  1. (rare) Of a male animal such as a camel or an elephant: in musth.
Alternative forms
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Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “musty, adj.2”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2022; “musty, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “moistī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “moist(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ “-ī̆, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. ^ “must, n.4”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “must3, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  6. ^ “† musty, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2018.
  7. ^ “† musty, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2019.
  8. ^ “musty, adj.3”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

Further reading

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