mood

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
  2. noun the prevailing psychological state
  3. noun verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker

Etymology

From Middle English mood, mode, mod, from Old English mōd (“mind,” in poetry also “heart, spirit, courage”), from Proto-West Germanic *mōd, from Proto-Germanic *mōdaz (“sense, courage, zeal, anger”), from Proto-Indo-European *moh₁-, *meh₁- (“endeavour, will, temper”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moud (“courage”), West Frisian moed (“courage; mind; spirit; will; intention”), Dutch moed (“bravery, courage; mood”), German Mut, Muth (“bravery, courage; mood”), German Low German Mood (“boldness, bravery, courage”), Luxembourgish Mutt (“courage”), Yiddish מוט (mut, “bravery, courage”), Danish and Swedish mod (“courage”), Faroese and Icelandic móður (“anger, wrath; fierce mood”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk mot (“courage”), Gothic 𐌼𐍉𐌸𐍃 (mōþs, “mood; anger”), Vandalic *muths (“mind”); also Latin mōs (“behavior, conduct, manner; inclination, temperament; humour, will”), Bulgarian сме́я (sméja, “to dare”), Czech smět (“to be allowed; may”), Macedonian сме́е (smée, “to be allowed”), Polish śmieć (“dare”), Russian сметь (smetʹ, “to dare”), Serbo-Croatian сме̏ти, смје̏ти, smȅti, smjȅti (“to dare, venture”), Slovak smieť (“to be allowed; may”), Slovene smeti (“to be allowed; may”) Ukrainian смі́ти (smíty, “to dare”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

temper, humor, humour

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