Etymograph

English

moss

Moss comes from Old English mos ‘bog, marsh, moss’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mews-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mews-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*musą‘bog, moss’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mosreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mos‘bog, marsh, moss’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1989moss

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mews-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*musą‘bog, moss’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mosreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mos‘bog, marsh, moss’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1989moss

Earliest quotation: 1989, Michael Sky, Dancing with the Fire: “Another says you should tense your body, look up…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mews-

musty, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *musą ‘bog, moss’

mousse

through Middle English mos

mush

Today it means

noun Any of various small, green, seedless plants growing on the ground or on the surfaces of trees, stones, etc.; now specifically, a plant of the phylum Bryophyta (formerly division Musci).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mews- / moss

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