moult

See also: Moult

English

Alternative forms

• molt (US)

Etymology

From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute and mutate. Un-etymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- (compare fault, vault and solder with correctly restored etymological ⟨l⟩).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /moʊlt/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɒlt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /məʊlt/
• Rhymes: -əʊlt

Noun

moult (plural moults)

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

   Synonyms: ecdysis, moulting

   Some birds change colour during their winter moult.

2. The skin or feathers cast off during the process of moulting.

   Synonym: exuvia

Derived terms

• catastrophic moult

Translations

process

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 換毛／换毛 (zh) (huànmáo), (of birds) 換羽／换羽 (zh) (huànyǔ), 退毛 (zh) (tuìmáo)

• Czech: (fur) línání n, (feathers) pelichání n, (skin) svlékání n, přepeření n
• Dutch: rui (nl) m
• Finnish: karvanlähtö (fi) (of fur); sulkasato (fi) (of feathers); nahanluonti (fi) (of skin)
• French: mue (fr) f
• Galician: muda (gl) f
• German: Mauser (de) f (feathers), Häutung f (skin)
• Hungarian: (skin, exoskeleton, fur) vedlés (hu), (feathers) tollhullatás
• Indonesian: pergantian kulit (id)
• Italian: muta (it), muda
• Japanese: 抜け替わり (ぬけかわり, nukekawari)
• Kalmyk: хагз (xagz)
• Korean: 허물을 벗다 (heomureul beotda)
• Maori: turukitanga
• Portuguese: muda (pt) f
• Romanian: năpârlire (ro) f
• Russian: ли́нька (ru) f (línʹka)
• Spanish: muda (es) f
• Swedish: ömsning, (of feathers) ruggning

skin or feathers cast off

• Czech: svlečka f
• Finnish: luotu nahka (skin)
• French: mue (fr) f
• Galician: muda (gl) f
• Icelandic: (of insects and reptiles) hamskipti n pl, (of birds) fjaðrafellir m
• Japanese: 蛻 (ja) (monuke, nukegara)
• Malayalam: പടം (ml) (paṭaṁ) (for snake)

Verb

moult (third-person singular simple present moults, present participle moulting, simple past and past participle moulted)

1. (intransitive) To shed or lose a covering of hair or fur, feathers, skin, horns, etc, and replace it with a fresh one.

   Synonyms: shed, slough

2. (transitive) To shed in such a manner.

Translations

to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal

• Azerbaijani: tüləmək
• Bulgarian: сменям си перата (smenjam si perata)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 換毛／换毛 (zh) (huànmáo), (of birds) 換羽／换羽 (zh) (huànyǔ), 蛻皮／蜕皮 (zh) (tuìpí)

• Czech: línat (cs), pelichat, přesrstit se pf, přepeřit pf, svlékat se (cs) impf
• Dutch: ruien (nl) (feathers), muiten (nl) (falcons), vervellen (nl) (skin), verharen (nl) (fur)
• Finnish: luoda nahkansa (skin); pudottaa höyhenensä (feathers)
• French: muer (fr)
• Galician: mudar (gl), esplumar (feathers)
• German: mausern (de) (feathers), häuten (de) (skin)
• Hungarian: vedlik (hu)
• Icelandic: (of insects and reptiles) hleypa hömum, (of birds) fella fjaðrir, (of cats and dogs) fara úr hárum
• Italian: mutare (it), fare la muta
• Japanese: 抜け替わる (ぬけかわる, nukekawaru), 生え変わる (はえかわる, haekawaru)
• Maori: turuki, whakamāunu
• Portuguese: mudar (pt)
• Romanian: năpârli (ro)
• Russian: линя́ть (ru) (linjátʹ)
• Slovene: leviti (se) (skin)
• Southern Altai: тӱлеер (tüleer)
• Spanish: pelechar (es), mudar (es)
• Swedish: ömsa (sv), rugga

to shed in such a manner (transitive form)

• Czech: svlékat impf (kůži, krunýř), shazovat impf (paroží, srst)
• French: muer (fr)
• Swedish: ömsa (sv), rugga

See also

• 
  A cicada moulting
• 
  A cockroach moulting
• 
  A cicada molting
• A snake moulting

Further reading

• moulting on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French moult, from Old French mut (with a silent ⟨l⟩ inserted per the Latin etymon), from earlier Old French mult~molt, from Latin multus, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”, past passive participle). After having largely disappeared from the spoken language, where it was replaced by beaucoup, the term is now occasionally heard again, often with a spelling-pronunciation.

Pronunciation

• (traditional) IPA^(key): /mu/, (liaison) /mu.t‿/
• (spelling pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mult/, /mul/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Homophones: mou, mous

Adjective

moult (feminine moulte, masculine plural moults, feminine plural moultes)

1. (formerly archaic or regional) many; a lot of

   Synonym: beaucoup

Adverb

moult

1. (archaic or regional) much; a lot

Usage notes

Used both as invariable and variable adjective:

Après moult hésitations, il prit cette décision. (invariable)

After much hesitation he made this decision.

Et, pour finir, moulte chose
Blanche et noire, effet et cause […] (variable)

And, to finish, many a thing
White and black, effect and cause […]

Further reading

• “moult”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• mulot

Middle French

Alternative forms

• mlt (manuscript abbreviation)

Etymology

From Old French molt, mout, from Latin multus.

Adverb

moult

1. much; a lot

Descendants

• French: moult