moult

• molt (American English)

From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /moʊlt/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɒlt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /məʊlt/
• Rhymes: -əʊlt

moult (plural moults)

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

   Some birds change colour during their winter moult.

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

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

From Middle French moult, from Old French molt, mout, mult, from Latin multus, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”, past passive participle). Has largely disappeared from spoken language, only preserved in some dialects, and replaced by beaucoup.

• (traditional) IPA^(key): /mu/
• (spelling pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mult/, /mul/

  • (file)

• Homophones: mou, mous

moult

1. (archaic, regional) much; a lot

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

1. (archaic, regional) many; a lot of

   Synonym: beaucoup

Used both as invariable and variable adjective:

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

After many hesitations he took the decision.

Et, pour finir, moulte chose / Blanche et noire, effet et cause […] (variable)[1]

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

• “moult” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• mulot

• mlt (manuscript abbreviation)

From Old French molt, mout, from Latin multus.

moult

1. much; a lot

• French: moult