moss

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants

Etymology

From Middle English mos, from Old English mos (“bog, marsh, moss”), from Proto-West Germanic *mos, from Proto-Germanic *musą (“bog, moss”), from Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“moss”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian möösk (“moss”), Saterland Frisian Moas (“moss”), West Frisian moas (“moss”), Alemannic German Mies (“moss”), Dutch mos (“moss; lichen; marsh, swamp”), German and Luxembourgish Moos (“moss”), Low German Moss (“moss”), Danish mos (“moss”), mose (“bog; moor”), Faroese and Icelandic mosi (“moss”), Norwegian Bokmål mose (“moss”), Norwegian Nynorsk mose, Swedish mossa, mosse (“raised bog”); also Latin muscus (“moss”), Bulgarian мъх (mǎh, “moss”), Czech and Polish mech (“moss”), Macedonian мов (mov, “moss”), Russian and Ukrainian мох (mox, “moss”), Serbo-Croatian ма̀ховина, màhovina (“moss”), Slovak mach (“moss”), Slovene mah (“moss; raised bog; marsh; velvet; down, fluff”), Armenian մամուռ (mamuṙ, “moss”). Doublet of mousse.

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