MOULT

Meaning

The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey-? Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der. Latin mūtōder. Old English *mutian Middle English mouten English moult From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (attested in bemutian, “to exchange for”), from Latin mūtō (“to (re)move, change, vary, mutate, exchange, abandon”). Doublet of mute and mutate. The unetymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- as in fault and vault; compare solder, which in contrast has an etymological ⟨l⟩ (from Latin solidāre, “to make solid“) but was historically pronounced without that grapheme's sound.

Synonyms & Antonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2019, 2021, 2022, 2025.