English

must

/məst/
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.

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    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.

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English must, from Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*med- “to acquire, possess, be in charge of”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishmoste
      • derivedMiddle Englishmoten “to have to”
        • inheritedOld Englishmōste “had to”
          • derivedProto-Germanic*mōtaną “to be able to, have to, be delegated”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishmust “must (fermenting juice)”
      • inheritedOld Englishmust
        • derivedOld Frenchmust
          • derivedLatinmustum “unfermented or partially fermented grape juice or wine, must”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*mews- “moss”

    Related: Dutch moest, German musste, Swedish måste

    Words built on it: must-have, must-see, must-read

    Sources