must
Pronunciation Etymology 1Translations
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Pronunciation Etymology 1
From Middle English moste "must", literally, "had to", the past tense of Middle English moten, from Old English mōste, 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.
Verbmust (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.
- This door handle must be rotated fully.
- (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.
Conjugation of must
- French: devoir
- German: müssen
- Italian: dovere
- Portuguese: dever
- Russian: (predicative) до́лжен
- Spanish: deber, tener que
- French: devoir
- Italian: dovere
- Portuguese: dever
- Russian: должно́ быть
- Spanish: deber de
must (plural musts)
Translations Etymology 2From Middle English must, from Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.
Nounmust
- 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.
must (musts, present participle musting; simple past and past participle musted)
Etymology 3From Persian مست, from Pahlavi 𐭬𐭮𐭲.
Nounmust
- 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:
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