Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Must in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels must as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Must

[AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. Mustard.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordmust
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. Mustard.]
Selected historical definitionThe expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation.
Signed record IDwebster1913-must-noun-55f7f305c9e4
Source locatorCIDE.M, paragraph 11425; Gutenberg eBook 665
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 665Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "must" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. Mustard.]" The selected historical definition says: "The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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