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must

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English moste ("must", literally, "had to", the past tense of Middle English moten (“to have to”)), from Old English mōste (“had to”), 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. Cognate with Dutch moest (“had to”), German musste (“had to”), Swedish måste (“must, have to, be obliged to”). More at mote.

Alternative forms

Verb

must (third-person singular simple present must, no present participle, simple past must, no past participle) (modal auxiliary, defective)

  2. 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. (the requirement is an imperative)
    This door handle must be rotated fully. (the requirement is a directive, necessary to operate the handle.)
    Everybody told me I must stop worrying, but I couldn't, because I felt there must be something wrong.
    You really must come and see us soon, pal. - We'll see: I can borrow my dad's car, but I must bring it back before midnight.
    The physician said that I must / had to / would have to stop smoking.
  4. 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.
    Where would you have put the keyring? You couldn’t have lost it again! - I must have, because it's nowhere to be found.
    I said it must be pretty late and I really must go.
  6. Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
    The children must be asleep by now.
    There's the doorbell. It must be Dad.
Usage notes
  • (auxiliary, to do as a requirement): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating mere intent for the predicate’s execution; and stronger auxiliary verb will, indicating that the negative consequence will be unusually severe.
  • (auxiliary, to do with certainty): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating a strong probability of the predicate’s execution.
  • The past tense of “must” is also “must”. In main clauses, this use of the past tense is almost always literary (see King James Bible, Leiber, and Alcott quotations at Citations:must). In subordinate clauses, it is more common: I knew that he must come, but he never showed up. Otherwise, the past sense is usually conveyed by had to. It is possible to use was bound to for the past also. For this reason, have to and be bound to are also used as alternatives to must in the present and future.
  • The principal verb, if easily supplied (especially go), may be omitted. In modern usage this is mainly literary (see Housman and Tolkien quotations at Citations:must).
  • Must is unusual in its negation: must not still expresses a definite certainty or requirement. Need and have to, on the other hand, are negated in the usual manner. Compare:
You must not read that book. (It is necessary that you not read that book.)
You need not read that book. / You do not have to read that book. (It is not necessary that you read that book.)
  • The second-person singular (thou being the subject) no longer adds -est (as it did in Old English).
Conjugation
More information infinitive, present tense ...

† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
Translations
See also

Noun

must (plural musts)

  1. Something that is mandatory or required.
    Synonyms: imperative, necessity
    Antonym: no-no
    Hyponyms: must-do, must-have, must-see
    If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.
    • 1932, Helen Vinson, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang:
      "There are no musts in my life - I'm free, white, and twenty-one."
Descendants
  • → French: must
  • → Finnish: must
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English must, from Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.

Noun

must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)

  1. The property of being stale or musty.
  2. Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
  4. Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes.
    • c. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ovid in Exile:
      No sweet grape lies hidden here in the shade of its vine-leaves,
      No fermenting must fills and o'erflows the deep vats.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

must (third-person singular simple present musts, present participle musting, simple past and past participle musted)

  1. (transitive) To make musty.
  2. (intransitive) To become musty.
Further reading

Etymology 3

See musth.

Noun

must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)

  1. Alternative spelling of musth.
    • 1871, Charles Darwin, “Secondary Sexual Characters of Mammals”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part II (Sexual Selection), page 240:
      No animal in the world is so dangerous as an elephant in must.
    • 1936, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Shooting an Elephant”, in Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays, London: Secker and Warburg, published 1950, →OCLC, pages 2–3:
      Early one morning the sub-inspector at a police station the other end of the town rang me up on the 'phone and said that an elephant was ravaging the bazaar. Would I please come and do something about it? […] It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone "must". It had been chained up, as tame elephants always are when their attack of "must" is due, but on the previous night it had broken its chain and escaped.

Anagrams

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Dutch

Etymology

From English must, from Old English mōste, from the past tense of Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, whence native moeten.

Pronunciation

Noun

must m (plural musts)

  1. a must (necessity, prerequisite)
    Synonym: moetje
    Een rijbewijs is een must als je taxichauffeur wil worden.
    A driver's license is a must if you want to be a taxi driver.

Estonian

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Middle English

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