mould
pronunciation
How to pronounce mould in British English:
UK [məʊld]
How to pronounce mould in American English:
US [moʊld]
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- Noun:
- loose soil rich in organic matter
- a fungus that produces a superficial growth on various kinds of damp or decaying organic matter
- sculpture produced by molding
- container into which liquid is poured to create a given shape when it hardens
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- Verb:
- form in clay, wax, etc
- form by pouring (e.g., wax or hot metal) into a cast or mold
- make something, usually for a specific function
Word Origin
- mould
- mould: English has three words mould. By some way the oldest is ‘earth, soil’ [OE], which comes ultimately from the Indo-European base *mel-, *mol-, *ml- ‘grind’ (source also of English meal ‘flour’, mill, etc). Moulder [16] may be derived from it. Mould ‘form’ [13] is assumed to come from Old French modle ‘form, shape, pattern’.This was descended from Latin modulus ‘small measure’ (source of English module), a diminutive form of modus ‘measure’ (source of English mode, model, etc). Mould ‘fungus’ [15] appears to have originated as an adjective, meaning ‘mouldy’. This in turn was an adjectival use of the past participle of a now obsolete verb moul ‘go mouldy’, which was borrowed from an assumed Old Norse *mugla.=> meal, mill, molar, moulder; mode, model, mood
- mould
- chiefly British English spelling of mold in various senses. Related: Moulded; moulding.
Example
- 1. Such oil can contain carcinogens and toxic mould .
- 2. A single spore can quickly spread and form a mould .
- 3. Each flask contains enough mould to produce a single dose of penicillin .
- 4. During this process of growth the mould exudes peniciliin into the growth solution .
- 5. The mould could be using the transposons to maintain the diversity of its weapons arsenal , he suggests .