moistadj.n.

Brit.

/mɔɪst/, U.S.

/mɔɪst/

Forms: Middle English moost, Middle English moste, Middle English–1500s most, Middle English–1600s moiste, Middle English–1600s moyst, Middle English–1600s moyste, Middle English– moist, 1500s mowest, 1500s moynst (transmission error), 1600s moit (probably transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 moiste, pre-1700 moyst, pre-1700 mwst, pre-1700 1700s– moist.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French moiste.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman moiste, moist, moste and Middle French moiste damp, moist, wet (late 12th cent. in Old French as muste ; French moite ); further etymology uncertain and disputed: perhaps < a blend of a post-classical Latin variant (with shortened vowel) of classical Latin mūcidus mucid adj. and a post-classical Latin reflex of classical Latin mustum must n.¹ (see further Trésor de la Langue Française s.v. moite). Compare slightly earlier moist v.

A. adj.

a. Slightly wet, imbued with moisture; containing liquid in a state of suspension or absorption; not dry; damp, humid.In many contexts now differing from damp by having a neutral (sometimes, esp. with reference to the texture of food, good) rather than a negative sense, and in connoting a lesser degree of wetness. In early use the word had a wider application.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > [adjective]

moista1382

moistfula1398

undriedc1440

wak1513

mocha1522

humorous1526

humidc1550

dabby1581

fat1598

unparched1599

moistish1610

dampisha1642

weakya1642

rafty1655

dampya1691

damp1706

mochy1794

danky1820

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Josh. xv. 19 Caleph ȝaf to here moyst [L. irriguam] dongy [land] aboue & byneþe.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 45^v Kynde makeþ þe mouþ moiste with inne þe [read to] tempre & chaunge the esiloker þe drynes of the mete.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 67 Ȝiff the erthe were made moyst & weet with þat water, it wolde neuere bere fruyt.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 106 Ȝif venym or poysoun be brought in presence of the dyamand, anon it begynneth to wexe moyst and for to swete.

?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 82^v To mak moste, liquidare.

c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 258 (MED) Her moyst clothes [were] with teares all be spreynt.

1529 T. Wolsey in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 10 This mowest & corupt ayer.

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 137^v The confynes of the chiefe citie..are moister then is necessary.

1611 Bible (King James) Song Three Children 26 As it had bene a moist whistling wind.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 741 The Hills to their supplie Vapour, and Exhalation dusk and moist, Sent up amain.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 30/1 The moistest part of the Quarry.

1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 247 The skin grows moister, and the sweat..begins to have a peculiar fœtid smell.

1798 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening (ed. 2) xviii. 297 Let spring sown seeds be watered occasionally, according to the weather, to keep them moist.

1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul iii. iv. 394 The Gurmseer itself is moist, and sometimes even marshy.

1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. xi. §95. 321 Moist winds..lose so much heat when they reach the cold mountain peaks, that condensation rapidly takes place.

1901 F. Norris Octopus ii. iii. 379 Two days before it had rained copiously, and the soil, still moist, disengaged a pungent aroma of fecundity.

1972 T. Keneally Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith vi. 51 All the time he sucked a pebble to keep his mouth moist.

1993 Toronto Life July 68/2 The food is pretty good..: moist, herby meatballs with a dark firm crust.

b. Of a plant, fruit, etc.: juicy, succulent; not withered or dry; fresh as opposed to dried. Merging with sense A. 1a in later use.figurative in quot. c1400.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [adjective] > having fluid or sap

sappy1100

moista1382

wateryc1425

fatty1552

juiced1597

succulent1601

juiceful1619

succiferous1655

lymphatic1673

racy1676

lymphous1682

succous1694

succose1859

sebaceous1899

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Job viii. 16 Moiste semeþ þe resshe before þe sunne come.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. 68 (MED) Matrymonye I may nyme a moiste fruit with-alle.

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 41^v It [sc. elm wood] is then best of all riuen, clouen and cut in sunder when it is moyst and greene.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 45^v Grasse..(too greene and moyst) yf it be carryed into the Loft, rotteth, and the vapour being ouerheated, falleth on fyre and burneth.

1611 Bible (King James) Num. vi. 3 Nor [shall he] eate moist grapes, or dried.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 224 Will these moyst Trees..page thy heeles And skip when thou point'st out?

a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 29 A battle, sweete, moist, and (as wee say) a naturall grasse.

1843 C. Dickens Christmas Carol iii. 83 The figs were moist and pulpy.

1992 Atlantic Apr. 105/3 ‘Shelling’ beans are eaten when the seeds are mature and plump but still moist.

†c. Of a shoe: new, not worn, supple. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 457 Hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed ful streite yteyd, and shoes ful moyste and newe.

†d. Of beer: fresh, not stale. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [adjective] > new

moistc1390

moistyc1390

the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [adjective] > fresh or new

newa1300

moistc1390

undiffadedc1430

green1585

youthful1594

virent1595

virgin1600

unhandleda1657

virginala1659

original1756

untrite1781

unclichéd1946

c1390 G. Chaucer Sir Thopas 1954 Notemuge to putte in ale Wheither it be moyste or stale.

c1390 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale 315 A draghte of moyste and corny ale.

e. Of an eye: wet with tears, ready to shed tears. In 16–17th cent. also: †watery, rheumy (as a sign of old age or illness) (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] > suffused or wet with tears

wet?c1225

beweptc1320

tearyc1374

moistc1390

watery1447

watered1571

blubberedc1575

vaporous1583

swelling1769

moist-eyed1797

the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > [adjective] > excretion from eyes

wetc1275

beteareda1586

moist1600

swellinga1616

brimful1700

moist-eyed1797

c1390 G. Chaucer Melibeus 2182 Whan that thy freend is deed lat nat thyne eyen to moyste ben of teerys.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 181 Haue you not a moist eie, a dry hand,..a white beard,..and will you yet call your selfe yong?

1616 B. Jonson Epicœne i. i, in Wks. I. 531 Weake hammes, moyst eyes, and shrunke members.

1683 J. Chalkill Thealma & Clearchus I. 32 Sorrow deny'd to let Her moist eyes sleep, for her increasing fears Conspir'd to keep them open with her tears.

1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 187 For the Gargol in Hogs. The signs of which are, hanging down of the Head..moist Eyes, staggering, and loss of Appetite.

1773 J. Robertson Poems (rev. ed.) 135 Tho' charitable, kind, sincere, Tho' moist your eye with Pity's tear.

1820 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone (new version) ii, in Misc. Poems III. 28 On the banner..He glanced a look of holy pride, And his moist eyes were glorified.

1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 64 The tender sound.., Made his eye moist.

1897 ‘H. S. Merriman’ In Kedar's Tents vi A round-faced, chubby little man, with a tender mouth and moist dark eyes looking kindly out upon the world.

1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xiii. 68 Mr. Wrenn's eyes were moist. Here was a friend already.

1971 I. Murdoch Accidental Man 31 One eye was tightly closed, the other hugely wide, moist as with unshed tears.

1993 I. Welsh Trainspotting 45 There were a few moist eyes when the 'Tones sang James Connolly.

f. Of a season, climate, etc.: wet; rainy; having some rain; having a considerable rainfall.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective] > wet (of weather, place, or time)

wetc893

moista1398

waterya1398

moistya1500

waterish1545

washy1566

rotten1567

slabby1653

weety1658

late1673

fresh1790

slottery1790

soft1812

givey1829

juicy1837

sploshy1838

sposhy1842

slip-sloppya1845

splishy-splashyc1850

shabby1853

soppy1872

sappy1885

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 123 Ȝif þe wintir is drye & springinge tyme and heruest is moist and rayny, þanne nedis in somer ben I-bred feueres.

1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde iii. viii. 147 One somer is softe and moyste, And another is drye and wyndy.

1540 R. Jonas tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. f. xliiii The hote and moyste whether.

1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 18 Thys moyst and foggie Clime.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies ii. ii. 84 The night being colder then the day, is likewise more moist.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 53 Ye Swains, invoke the Pow'rs who rule the Sky, For a moist Summer, and a Winter dry.

1788 T. Jefferson Mem. 22 Apr. in Writings (1984) 655 The white grape, though not so fine for wine as the red..and more liable to rot in a moist season, yet grows better if the soil be excessively poor.

1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul i. v. 132 Some places are refreshed in summer by breezes from moister countries.

1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vii. 58 The weather moist and raw.

1900 Nature 19 July 277/2 A moist climate would tend to leach the calcareous matter from the rock.

1990 Soviet Life Dec. 25 The warm and moist climate of the region provides a perfect environment for southern plants and taiga and tundra vegetation.

g. Of the vagina: lubricated, as in a state of sexual arousal; (of a woman) sexually aroused, excited. Also (in extended use of a sexual act): arousing.

ΚΠ

1958 J. Barth End of Road vii. 110 I felt my nostrils flare like a stud's at the nubby tight sex of them, flustered and pink-scrubbed, giggling and moist.

1968 T. Wiseman Quick & Dead 187 What expectancy was rife in your body? Were you already moist then?

1990 D. M. Thomas Lying Together xviii. 190 The vaginal tightness so familiar from Anna during menstruation soon yielded, becoming moist and deliriously receptive.

1991 M. Gray First Fifty 56 We hung around in bed too long doing moist wicked things.

1997 ‘Q’ Deadmeat 181 I want to see you, I'm moist thinking about you.

2. Chiefly History of Science. Designating a quality associated with wetness and regarded in medieval and later times as one of the four qualities inherent in all things and characterizing the four elements (element n. 9a); having a preponderance of this quality. Cf. humid adj. b.See also cold adj. 6a and the note there, dry adj. 1b, hot adj. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > [adjective] > associated or connected with

moista1393

waterisha1425

the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [adjective] > humours > specific

moista1393

cholerica1398

melancholya1398

radicala1398

sanguinea1398

adusta1400

phlegmatica1400

adusted1547

phlegmatical1586

humid1604

sanguineous1732

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 1061 (MED) Cancer..is moiste and cold.

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 12 (MED) Oon of þe men is of an hoot complexioun & a moist.

c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls 380 Nature..That hot, cold, hevy, lyght, moyst, and dreye Hath knyt by evene noumbres of acord, In esy voys began to speke and seye [etc.].

?c1450 (a1388) tr. Richard of Wallingford Exafrenon (Digby) in D. J. Price & R. M. Wilson Equatorie of Planetis (1955) 204 (MED) Of all the planetis..summe..ar clepid hote & colde, drye & moyste.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 51^v (MED) Blood is rennynge hoot & moyst..and of alle humouris moost noble.

1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xvi. 73 Youth is..Hote, and moyste, and full of lustines.

?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. a.i^v It shal do good to moyst persons and women.

1589 R. Greene Menaphon To Ladie Hales sig. *2 The driest melancholy hath a moistest sanguin.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. i. 106 + 11 And the moist starre, Vpon whose influence Neptunes Empier stands, Was sicke almost to doomesday with eclipse.

1671 J. Sharp Midwives Bk. vi. vii. 407 Childrens moist brains breed moist humours that run to their ears.

1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 71 In Children and Women the cooler and moister Diet is most agreeable to preserve their natural Pulses.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 183 They [sc. fish] are cold and moist, and must needs, say they, produce juices of the same kind.

1819 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia (new ed.) at Androgynous Mercury is reckoned androgynous, being hot and dry when near the Sun, cold and moist when near the moon.

1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies viii. 330 Being a water-baby, his radical humours were of a moist and cold nature.

1998 Zest Sept. 151/3 If you go along with a ‘dry’ problem, such as a dry rash..then you might be sent away with a dose of a ‘moist’ lunar herb such as linden flower.

†3. Chiefly poetic. Yielding moisture or water; bringing rain or moisture; containing water or other liquid. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [adjective] > yielding

moista1393

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 3123 (MED) Thilke blod..scholde have ese To regne among the moiste veines.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. i. sig. Cc5 The moist daughters of huge Atlas stroue Into the Ocean deepe to driue their weary droue.

1606 Returne from Pernassus i. ii. sig. B Plaine Meteors, bred of the exhalation of Tobacco, and the vapors of a moyst pot, that soare vp into the open ayre.

a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. i. 164 Ere twice in murke and occidentall dampe Moist Hesperus hath quench'd her sleepy Lampe.

1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 6 Moist Arcturus clouds the Sky.

†4. Liquid; watery. Also of movement in quot. ?a1425¹ at sense A. 1a [after classical Latin liquidus] : fluid, smooth (rare). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > [adjective]

wateringOE

liquid1382

moista1393

runninga1398

liquidyc1400

diffluent1592

flowsome1674

liquorous1678

diffluous1727

runny1770

liquiform1805

aquiform1835

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 3123 (MED) The moiste dropes of the reyn Descenden into Middilerthe.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Jer. xliv. 25 Offre to it moist sacrifices [a1382 E.V. sacryfises of licoures].

?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. v. met. v. 9 Oothre beestis..overswymmen the spaces of the longe eir by moyst fleynge [L. liquido uolatu].

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxxi. 105 Water is of his nature calde and moiste.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 744/2 I swalowe downe any medycyne or lycour that is moyste, je assorbys.

1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades i. 11 Neptunes moist wildernes they plow [Gk. ἐπέπλεον ὑγρὰ κέλευθα].

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 268 But for my teares, The moist impediments vnto my speech, I had forestald this deere and deep rebuke.

1653 Duchess of Newcastle Of Elements in Poems & Fancies 31 This single Element it selfe to turne To severall qualities, as Fire to burne. So water moist, that heate to quench.

5. Science. Associated or connected with liquid.

a. Medicine. Characterized or accompanied by an effusion of serous fluid or by the production of mucus, pus, etc. Cf. wet adj. 13a, humid adj. d.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > discharge or flux > [adjective] > characterized by

waterya1400

wet1566

humid1813

moist1876

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 100 Þat is comyn in alle drye lepra more þan in moiste.

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 114^v (MED) Þer ar 2 spicez of scabbes, Moist & Drie.

1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. ii. iii. 173 In the Cure of an Ulcer with a moist Intemperies slabby and greasy Medicaments are to be forborn.

1684 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. 256 Scabies, the Itch: 'Tis of two sorts, moist and dry.

1744 J. Armstrong Art of preserving Health i. 19 Fierce coughs will teize you..Or moist Gravedo load your aching brows.

1829 S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) III. 487 It is from this cause [sc. putrefaction], the affected part becomes soft, corrupt, and offensive, and is called moist gangrene.

1876 J. S. Bristowe Treat. Theory & Pract. Med. i. ii. 86 When..the gangrene is what is usually called ‘moist’.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 524 The healing of a chronic moist eczema may be indefinitely delayed by washing.

1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) II. xv. 46/1 The cough productive of sputum may be described as ‘moist’ or ‘loose’.

1994 L. de Bernières Capt. Corelli's Mandolin xxi. 136 Pelagia found the flesh of the foot dry, and sighed as if a burden had been lifted away; it was the moist gangrene that was worse.

†b. Designating a process in which a solvent or other liquid is used. Cf. wet adj. 17b, humid adj. c. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1796 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) II. 395 No effectual method of analyzing this ore [sc. Tui stone], in the moist way has as yet been discovered.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 812 The assay of ores, comprehending the mechanical part: that is, by washing; the chemical part, or assays by the dry way; and the assays by the moist way.

1876 Galaxy July 132/1 None but those metals which have at least two degrees of oxidation in the moist way are capable of producing aniline black.

c. Medicine. Of sounds heard in auscultation: reminiscent of the sound of air bubbling through fluid, bubbling.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sounds heard in body > [adjective] > sounds in auscultation

puerile1821

pectoriloquous1824

large1827

sibilant1833

tubular1834

moist1843

rhonchal1843

pectoriloquial1846

redux1848

murmurish1851

rhonchial1852

bronchophonic1862

sticky1872

coarse1879

skodaic1882

1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xx. 230 The only stethoscopic phenomena observed were extensive minute and moist bronchial râles.

1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 10 Two great classes of the dry and of the moist sounds.

1904 Appleton's Med. Dict. at Râle Subcrepitant râle, Submucous râle, a fine moist, bubbling sound, heard in inspiration or expiration or both.

1984 Mod. Vet. Pract. 65 204 Lungworms primarily affect 4- to 6-month-old calves, which become febrile and dyspneic, with moist rales.

1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) I. v. 258/1 In an hour or two the patient is..acutely ill. His temperature soars, his chest is full of moist sounds, [etc.].

1992 Age & Ageing 21 43/1 Lung crepitations (rales) are moist crackly lung sounds heard on auscultation in inspiration or expiration.

†6. figurative. Fresh, vital; nourishing; refreshed; (also) undisciplined, weak; (perhaps) carnal, indulgent. Cf. moist v. 3, moisture n. 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > full of vigour

freshc1325

moistc1400

vigorous1548

c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 62/24 Aȝenus drie, dede werkis for defaute of moist grace to loue God, he ordeinede a man wiþ a drie hond.

c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 28/6 But us bihoueþ..þat we leue not to holde Godis hestis for no moist and inordinat loue of worldli þinges.

a1500 Twelve Profits of Tribulation (Rawl.) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 396 (MED) Hertis which arne grene in begynnyng of conuersion and moiste in carnall affeccions..be not departed from þe fals frendship of hir enemyes.

1508 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. (1876) 176 Make them moyst with the due of thy grace.

†7. poetic. Tearful; accompanied by tears. Cf. sense A. 1e. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective]

weepingc900

wopi?c1225

greetingfula1340

greetyc1350

weeplyc1374

weepfula1382

weepinglyc1440

lachrymablec1450

moistc1450

lachrymous1490

rainy1563

tearfula1586

greeting1588

collachrymate1593

crying1594

onion-eyeda1616

maudlinc1616

rheumatica1627

fluxed1628

lachrymalc1630

crystal-droppinga1650

showery1654

lugent1656

Niobean1665

lachrymary1693

lachrymose1727

moist-eyed1797

larmoyant1824

pluviose1824

ploratory1831

lachrymating1837

screwmatic1847

pipy1861

weepy1863

blarting1898

leaky1905

c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 238 Þei þat arn in lownes arn wete & moyste in wepynge & in deuocyoun.

1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. B Tis as common, To weepe at parting, as to be a woman..play not this moyst prize.

1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 24 in Justa Edouardo King Where ere thy bones are hurl'd, Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides,..Or whether thou to our moist vowes deni'd, Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old.

8. Given to drinking; affected by drink. Cf. wet adj. 14. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > alcoholic or addicted to drinking

drunkensomea1300

drunkelew1362

drunksomec1475

drunken1548

boozing1569

boozy1592

bousy1592

moisty1593

unsober1611

upsy-friesy1617

moist1619

sottish1632

swilling1633

bibacious1663

intemperate1680

swill-bellied1680

swill-down1693

wet1699

potative1737

compotatory1817

alcoholic1845

drinking1856

bibulous1861

on the drink1865

1619 R. Harris Drunkards Cup 8 By the testimony of the loosest and moystest naturalists, the very Poets.

1993 Frank 8 July 9/1 Tim Ralfe, moist and garrulous Charest sleazemaster.

B. n.

1. That which is moist; moisture. Also: moist quality, the state of being moist. rare after 18th cent. (now U.S. regional).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun]

wetc888

wetec897

wetnessc950

wekea1300

wokeness1340

moistc1387

moistnessc1390

moisturec1390

dank?a1400

humidity1412

wakc1485

waknessc1520

aquosity1528

weakinessa1642

succity1646

fogginess1674

damp1706

the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > [noun]

moistnessc1390

moisturea1398

humidityc1450

waterishness1532

moist1562

dankishness1576

moistishness1576

dankness1601

dampishness1607

madidity1656

dampness1665

humidness1727

madidness1731

dampiness1830

c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 420 He knew the cause of euery maladye, Were it of hoot or coold or moyste or drye, And where engendred and of what humour.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 379 Fyr..is withoute moist, al drye.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 1564 Abouten it is gras spryngyng, For moiste so thikke and wel likyng That it ne may in wynter dye.

a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Jasp l. 139 in Poems (1981) 8 Riches..Quhilk maith, nor moist, nor vther rust can freit.

1562 W. Turner Bk. Natures Bathes Eng. f. 3^v, in 2nd Pt. Herball It is good for the crampe and for all colde diseases and moyste of the synewes.

1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 86 She lodgeth heate, and cold, and moist, and drye, And life, and death, and peace, and warre together.

1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 92 Mirtles and Bayes for want of moist grew wan.

?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses viii. 110 The deepe moist then They further reacht.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 652 Who..Bear his swift errands over moist and dry, O're Sea and Land.

1745 E. Young Consolation 6 The Moist of human Frame the Sun exhales; Winds scatter, thro' the mighty Void, the Dry.

1981 L. A. Pederson et al. Ling. Atlas Gulf States 0199/096 [Land] keeps too much moist on it.

†2. = moist sugar n. at Compounds 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > unrefined or brown sugar

red sugar?a1425

black sugarc1430

panele1562

Canary sugar1568

soft sugar1581

muscovado1592

moist sugar1604

cassonade1657

brown sugar1704

bastard1766

Lisbon1767

bastard sugar1785

moist1809

sand1819

panela1830

piloncillo1844

pilonci1845

penuche1847

1809 J. T. Allingham in Examiner 12 Mar. 175/2 Ben. What's your pleasure ma'am? Woman. A pound of shilling moist.

3. British regional. A mist, a fog. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun]

misteOE

roke1292

vapourc1386

nyle1481

stove1513

fumec1550

rouka1586

misting1604

steam1612

dampa1616

petty-fog1641

smoke1648

brume1694

muga1728

ure1818

nebule1869

nebula1894

moist1903

M1904

clag1940

1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 144/2 [Lancs.] There's a thick moist this morning.

Compounds

C1. Parasynthetic.

† moist-brained adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe i. i. sig. A3 I..know him to be a dull moist braind Asse.

moist-eyed adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > [adjective] > excretion from eyes

wetc1275

beteareda1586

moist1600

swellinga1616

brimful1700

moist-eyed1797

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective]

weepingc900

wopi?c1225

greetingfula1340

greetyc1350

weeplyc1374

weepfula1382

weepinglyc1440

lachrymablec1450

moistc1450

lachrymous1490

rainy1563

tearfula1586

greeting1588

collachrymate1593

crying1594

onion-eyeda1616

maudlinc1616

rheumatica1627

fluxed1628

lachrymalc1630

crystal-droppinga1650

showery1654

lugent1656

Niobean1665

lachrymary1693

lachrymose1727

moist-eyed1797

larmoyant1824

pluviose1824

ploratory1831

lachrymating1837

screwmatic1847

pipy1861

weepy1863

blarting1898

leaky1905

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] > suffused or wet with tears

wet?c1225

beweptc1320

tearyc1374

moistc1390

watery1447

watered1571

blubberedc1575

vaporous1583

swelling1769

moist-eyed1797

1797 S. T. Coleridge Osorio (1873) iii. i. 84 This must needs bring on the idiotcy Of moist-eyed penitence.

1834 W. S. Roscoe Poems 37 I follow thee, and see thy hands unfold The love-sick primrose pale, And moist-eyed violet.

1999 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 16 June 20 Every month he buys tickets to more concerts than he has time to attend. But Stevenson is no moist-eyed melomane.

moist-lipped adj.

ΚΠ

1875 Overland Monthly Nov. 477 A gushing holy devotion and an eloquent pious ardor sometimes walk up the short church stair-way hand in hand with a moist-lipped lechery.

1993 Yale French Stud. No. 83. 173 He teaches ‘aesthetics’ to nubile, moist-lipped young women.

† moist-natured adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved 136 These being of a very hot, or warme and brackish nature are a very Excellent Soyle for a cold moyst-natured Land.

1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ v. 67 A very excellent Soyl for a cold moist natured Land.

moist-nosed adj.

ΚΠ

1934 D. Thomas Let. 9 May in Sel. Lett. (1966) 120 I would have introduced a..paragraph all about her nasty little moist-nosed muse.

moist-skinned adj.

ΚΠ

1865 Cornhill Mag. July 51 Tommy was a blue, moist-skinned little fellow.

1976 Ecol. Monogr. 46 322/1 For most moist-skinned amphibians, the models can be applied unchanged.

moist-tinged adj.

ΚΠ

1943 D. Gascoyne Poems 1937–42 55 Obscurely still beneath a moist-tinged blank Sky like the inside of a deaf mute's mouth.

† moist-striking adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1816 L. Hunt Story of Rimini iv. 177 Then issue forth in this moist-striking air.

C2.

moist chamber n. a chamber in which microscopic specimens may be kept moist.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > apparatus > [noun] > for storing or containing

boat1847

collecting box1857

moist chamber1869

Pasteur flask1869

plate1886

Petri dish1892

Pasteur pipette1899

Stender dish1900

straw1966

tissue-bank1968

1869 Monthly Microsc. Jrnl. (1874) 11 97 Recklinghausen's ‘moist chamber’ only enables us to arrest for a short time the dissipation of the fluid under examination.

1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) I. v. 539/2 The snip is placed in a drop of normal saline on a slide and is examined at intervals... If negative after 30 min, it may be kept in a moist chamber overnight and then re-examined.

moist colour n. now historical and rare a watercolour paint in the form of a soft paste.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > types of

lac1558

purpurin1558

colourish1598

earth1598

watercolour1598

earth colour1658

encaustic1662

lake1684

virgin tint1706

mosaic gold1746

bronze1753

gold bronze1769

cake colour1784

musive gold1796

sap-colour1816

repaint1827

moist colour1842

bronze powder1846

wax-colour1854

wax pigment1854

bitumen1855

chrome garnet1876

zinc-dust1877

zinc-powder1881

terra nera1882

earth pigment1900

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > paints

oil colour1498

oila1536

oil paint1759

cake colour1784

colour cake1794

moist colour1842

powder colour1862

tube-colour1881

tempera1883

powder paint1911

poster colour1925

finger paint1935

poster paint1939

1842 Bristol Mirror 16 Apr. 4/6 Newman's and Ackerman's Water Colours; Windsor [sic] and Newton's Moist Colours; Japanned Sketching Boxes.

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 294 The pigments are prepared..as dry cake colours, as moist colours in earthenware pans..and in metal collapsible tubes.

1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 86/1 For water colours the pigments are prepared..as ‘moist colours’ contained in small porcelain dishes.

1918 A. W. Rich Water Colour Painting ii. 22 It will be of interest to discuss the type of the material—whether it should be the hard cake as used by the early masters, or the modern moist colour.

2014 T. Hickman & L. Hickman Unwept xi. She turned the clasp and opening it found a treasure of small tubes that were printed with the words ‘Moist Colour’.

† moist gum n. Obsolete rare = dextrin n.

ΚΠ

1872 W. Crookes tr. R. Wagner Handbk. Chem. Technol. iv. 361 Dextrine, gommeline, moist gum, starch gum, or Alsace gum, isomeric with gum arabic, and expressed by the formula, C₆H_I0O₅, is formed by boiling starch with a small quantity of almost any dilute acid.

1890 Cent. Dict. at Moist Moist gum.

† moist measure n. Obsolete rare liquid measure; cf. wet adj. 12.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > liquid measure of capacity

moist measure1562

1562 W. Turner Bk. Natures Bathes Eng. f. 13, in 2nd Pt. Herball A ciath..holdeth after moyste measure an unce and an halfe.

† moist pleurisy n. Medicine Obsolete rare (a) pleurisy accompanied by expectoration; (b) pleurisy associated with bronchitis.

ΚΠ

1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 669/2 Humid or moist pleurisy is now properly regarded as a complication of pleurisy with pulmonary catarrh.

1896 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Pleurisy Moist pleurisy, term formerly used to designate pleurisy accompanied by expectoration, and generally meaning pleurisy occurring as a complication of bronchitis.

moist stove n. now historical and rare a hothouse heated with a moist heat. Cf. stove n.¹ 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > greenhouse or glass-house > hothouse

stow1614

hothouse1629

stove1697

hot wall1739

moist stove1806

tan-stove1828

warm-house1843

stove-house1860

1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 59 I was sensible of something suffocating, much as when a person..goes into a very hot and moist stove.]

1806 J. C. Loudon Treat. Country Resid. I. 344 Stoves are of two kinds... Dry stoves are kept of a temperature in general between 55 and 70 degrees; and moist stoves between 65 and 90 degrees.

1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXXIV. at Stove When any sort of flowers are to be forwarded,..they may be plunged in the bark-bed, and some be placed upon shelves, &c. to succeed them. This sort of stove is sometimes called the moist stove.

1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) iii. ii. 816 The bark or moist stove..having a pit for bark or other fermenting matter instead of a stage.

1883 B. S. Williams Choice Stove & Greenhouse Flowering Plants (ed. 3) 110 All the species of Gardenia..should be potted in a compost..; and should be grown in a moist stove or frame with bottom heat where practicable.

1902 W. P. Wright Cassell's Dict. Pract. Gardening I. 297/1 They [sc. Dictyosperma] require a moist stove and rich, loamy soil.

1976 Orchid Rev. 84 313 It was thought in the 1700s that the correct environment for tropical orchids was provided by ‘the bark or moist stove’..a building glazed in front and exposed to the south in the manner of a greenhouse.

moist sugar n. now rare unrefined or partially refined sugar.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > unrefined or brown sugar

red sugar?a1425

black sugarc1430

panele1562

Canary sugar1568

soft sugar1581

muscovado1592

moist sugar1604

cassonade1657

brown sugar1704

bastard1766

Lisbon1767

bastard sugar1785

moist1809

sand1819

panela1830

piloncillo1844

pilonci1845

penuche1847

1604 T. Winter Third Dayes Creation 17 There the white sweetnesse of moist sugar, breeds Within the bowels of Canarie reeds.

1797 T. Rumney Let. 25 Jan. in A. W. Rumney From Old South-Sea House (1914) vi. 107 I have put in 3lbs. of tea at 4/6 per lb. and..perhaps I may spare you a little moist sugar.

1835 Court Mag. 6 169/1 The two Misses Larkin..wore their own sevenpenny-moist-sugar coloured hair.

1886 Archaeologia 50 150 This mazer was formerly used in the family as a moist-sugar bowl.

1957 R. W. Beachey Brit. W. Indies Sugar Industry in Late 19th Cent. ii. 49 Much of the sugar from the sugar colonies went to the refiners of moist sugar ‘pieces’.

1970 L. K. Johnson in Ecology (1974) 55 127 (title) Competitive aggression for moist sugar between two species of stingless bees.

1986 Rep. Comptroller & Auditor Gen. India1984-85 (Govt. of Punjab; Commerc.) 38 During 1982-83 and 1983-84, the percentage of moist sugar to the sugar produced was 11.0 and 10.9 in Gurdaspur mill.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

moistv.

Brit.

/mɔɪst/, U.S.

/mɔɪst/

Forms: Middle English mooyst, Middle English most, Middle English–1500s moiste, Middle English–1500s moyste, Middle English–1600s moyst, 1500s– moist. Past tense

α. Middle English moistide, Middle English moysted, Middle English moystyd, Middle English 1900s– moisted.

β. Middle English–1500s moyste.

Past participle

α. Middle English imoisted, Middle English imoistid, Middle English moistid, Middle English moystede, Middle English moystid, Middle English ymoystede, Middle English–1500s moysted, Middle English–1600s 1900s– moisted.

β. 1500s moyst, 1500s–1600s moist.

Origin: Either (i) a borrowing from French. Or (ii) formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: French muster , moistir ; moist adj.

Etymology: Either < Anglo-Norman muster to make moist and Middle French moistir to become moist, to make moist (13th cent. in Old French; French moitir ), or < moist adj. (though this is first attested slightly later). Compare later moisten v. and note at that entry.

†1. intransitive. To become moist. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1350 Recipe Painting in Archæol. Jrnl. (1844) 1 65 Ȝef hit is i-druyet to druye, ethe theruppon with thi breth, ant hit wol moysten aȝeyn, ant thenne hit wol cachen the foyl fast.

?c1450 Recipe in M. Leach Stud. Medieval Lit. in Honor A. C. Baugh (1961) 295 (MED) Thour þe eyr & sunnys hete Þe gressys xul moystyn & waxin wete And castyn ere water..Into þe glas.

a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 88 (MED) This herbes schul ben wele stampede with a pound of schepes talwe and a pounde of oyle dolyue wel medled, and lat hem stonden x dayes for to moysten.

a. transitive. To make moist; to moisten, wet. Now British regional and U.S.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)]

weta950

bathec1000

drenchc1230

blotenc1325

danka1350

anointa1375

moista1382

beshed1382

moil?a1425

madefy?1440

arrouse1480

moisturea1500

humect1531

intinct1547

moisten1559

rinse1579

inebriate1610

irrigate1615

slocken1627

irriguate1632

humectate1640

madidate1656

slake1810

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Job xxi. 24 His bowelis ben fulle of talwȝ, & þe bones of hym ben moistid [L. irrigantur] with marwȝ.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke vii. 38 Sche..bigan to moiste [L. rigare] his feet with teeris.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 75^v Constantinus seiþ, drynk is nedeful for many maner cause, for it moystiþ þe drye body.

1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 9911 Blak brede..In hote watyr moystyd..she eet.

a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 95 Ȝif it dry, moyst it aȝen with vrine of a mayde.

c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. H4 With fayned teares she moysteth oft thy lap Tyll time that thy purse be taken in a trap.

1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 32 b Wyne heateth and moysteth the bodye.

1592 Countess of Pembroke tr. R. Garnier Antonius ii. sig. H6 His sworde Alreadie moisted is in his warme bloude.

1655 in S. Hartlib Reformed Common-wealth Bees 18 Rye..need not..be dryed, but beaten and moisted with its own liquor.

1683 London Jilt i. 96 The Green which conceals under it a very agreeable Red, must be somewhat wet and moisted with the Tongue or Finger.

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 145 As evening moists the daisy by thy side.

1891 E. Arnold Light of World iii. 156 I stood..ashamed to moist Such sacred palms with water from such source.

1924 J. W. Raine Land of Saddle-bags 79 Then he'd moist it and rub it and grain it through a fine sieve.

1952 D. M. Jones Anathemata v. 130 From the dripping impost the gusted drops moisted the ransom'd flesh of both of us.

2000 San Francisco Examiner 5 Apr. zza-4/2 Try a melange of artichokes, favas and peas, moisted with lemon juice.

†b. intransitive. To have a moistening effect; to be a source of moisture. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > be wet [verb (intransitive)] > make wet

wetc1330

moistc1400

c1400 Prose Versions New Test.: 1 Cor. (Selwyn) (1904) iii. 6 (MED) Y plaunted & Apollo moysted [L. rigavit]; bote oure Lord ȝefeþ þe waxynge. & þerfore nouþer he þat plaunted is ouȝt, ne he þat moysted; bote he þat ȝefeþ þe waxynge is God.

a1500 (?a1400) Stanzaic Life of Christ (Harl. 2250) (1926) 9832 [The fire of the Holy Ghost] likened is..To þo sotheron wynde..þat moystes & brennes bothe.

1526 Grete Herball cclxxx. sig. Qi^v/2 The kyrnelles in the quynces haue vertue to moyste, to smothe and soften, and therfore brothe that they be soden in is good for them that ben drye as of ptysyke or ethyke.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xxxvii^v Sprinkle a vessell of water and it moisteth not, but cast it out wholy together and it bothe washeth and norisheth.

1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples f. 5, in Bulwarke of Defence Waxe is good for plasters..it moisteth and is used for outwarde Medicines.

1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xx. 86 Walking in the dew moystes, and harmes.

1624 J. Donne Deuotions vii. 171 As thy water moysts, so it cooles too.

†3. transitive. figurative. Originally: to inspire, nourish (the mind, a person, etc.); to refresh, encourage. Also later: to soften (the heart). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > make (more) sensitive or tender [verb (transitive)] > specifically of the heart

moistc1390

tender1390

woke1393

asoftc1430

supply1534

dulce1558

entender1591

douce1593

unstone1594

moisten?a1661

c1390 (c1350) Proprium Sanctorum in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1888) 81 317 Prestes, techers, Confessours..dude Moyste wel þe hertes of trewe men eueridel.

R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love ii. v. 80 Froo qwhens he byrnys with lufe swetist & with a draght of heuenly passage he is moystid & vmbesett & truly is transformyd with heit of happis to-cum.

1557 Sarum Primer 1 Good Lorde Jesu Christe,..moiste my minde with thy most precious bloude.

1578 G. Whetstone Promos & Cassandra: 2nd Pt. v. ii. sig. Liij^v Stormes of teares did showre, As myght, with rueth, haue moyst a stony hart.

1598 S. Rowlands Betraying of Christ sig. Diij And let my teares be flouds to moist my heart.

1611 J. Davies Scourge Folly 220 Bounties o'reflowing fovnt to moist the dry Faint Soules of Armes and Art, now drouping quite.

†4.

a. transitive. To slake the thirst of (a person); to quench (a thirst). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > slake thirst

moistc1400

moisten1567

slack1631

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 366 (MED) May no drynke me moiste, ne my thruste slake.

c1450 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 71 To the temple of Bachus, the tauerne, To moysten ther your appetitys drey, Ful spedful ye rennyn.

?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 160 Thus passed he forthe his dynner in great lamentacion & hevynes, who was more fed & moysted w^t sorowe & teares than w^t owther pleasaunt metes or dylicate drynkes.

b. transitive. To wet (the lips, throat, etc.) with drink; = moisten v. 2b. Obsolete (British regional in later use.) to moist one's clay: = to moisten one's clay at clay n. 4b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > slake thirst > moisten with liquor or wine

wash1390

moist1530

liquefy1826

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 639/2 I dyd nat drinke to day, I dyd but moyste my lyppes with a quarter of wine.

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 45 So they all drancke hartely except him self, who..dyd no more but a litle moyste his mowthe without, and so refreshed him self.

1606 Returne from Pernassus i. ii. sig. B3 Meete me an houre hence, at the signe of the Pegasus in Cheap-side, and Ile moyst thy temples with a cuppe of Claret.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 277 Now no more The iuyce of Egypts Grape shall moyst this lip.

a1645 W. Lithgow Scotland's Teares in Trans. Lit. & Antiquarian Soc. Perth (1827) 1 71 To moyst my sun-scorched veyne, with liquid drops.

1822 S. B. H. Judah Odofriede ii. ii. 46 The elements in all Their wild and terrible energy, battling Around his head, with not one drop to moist His clinging lip.

1834 A. Smart Rambling Rhymes 120 When he used to moist his clay An' lay his corn in.

1892 W. J. Linton Heliconundrums 88 I'll tak' a mere sup just to moist my mou'.

5. intransitive. U.S. To rain slightly, to drizzle. rare.

ΚΠ

1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap iii. 117 It was moisting when we started, and pretty soon it clouded up.

1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap iii. 118 It wasn't moisting any more—it was raining for fair.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	moist
释义	moistadj.n. Brit. /mɔɪst/, U.S. /mɔɪst/ Forms: Middle English moost, Middle English moste, Middle English–1500s most, Middle English–1600s moiste, Middle English–1600s moyst, Middle English–1600s moyste, Middle English– moist, 1500s mowest, 1500s moynst (transmission error), 1600s moit (probably transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 moiste, pre-1700 moyst, pre-1700 mwst, pre-1700 1700s– moist. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French moiste. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman moiste, moist, moste and Middle French moiste damp, moist, wet (late 12th cent. in Old French as muste ; French moite ); further etymology uncertain and disputed: perhaps < a blend of a post-classical Latin variant (with shortened vowel) of classical Latin mūcidus mucid adj. and a post-classical Latin reflex of classical Latin mustum must n.¹ (see further Trésor de la Langue Française s.v. moite). Compare slightly earlier moist v. A. adj. 1. a. Slightly wet, imbued with moisture; containing liquid in a state of suspension or absorption; not dry; damp, humid.In many contexts now differing from damp by having a neutral (sometimes, esp. with reference to the texture of food, good) rather than a negative sense, and in connoting a lesser degree of wetness. In early use the word had a wider application. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > [adjective] moista1382 moistfula1398 undriedc1440 wak1513 mocha1522 humorous1526 humidc1550 dabby1581 fat1598 unparched1599 moistish1610 dampisha1642 weakya1642 rafty1655 dampya1691 damp1706 mochy1794 danky1820 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Josh. xv. 19 Caleph ȝaf to here moyst [L. irriguam] dongy [land] aboue & byneþe. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 45^v Kynde makeþ þe mouþ moiste with inne þe [read to] tempre & chaunge the esiloker þe drynes of the mete. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 67 Ȝiff the erthe were made moyst & weet with þat water, it wolde neuere bere fruyt. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 106 Ȝif venym or poysoun be brought in presence of the dyamand, anon it begynneth to wexe moyst and for to swete. ?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 82^v To mak moste, liquidare. c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 258 (MED) Her moyst clothes [were] with teares all be spreynt. 1529 T. Wolsey in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 10 This mowest & corupt ayer. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 137^v The confynes of the chiefe citie..are moister then is necessary. 1611 Bible (King James) Song Three Children 26 As it had bene a moist whistling wind. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 741 The Hills to their supplie Vapour, and Exhalation dusk and moist, Sent up amain. View more context for this quotation 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 30/1 The moistest part of the Quarry. 1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 247 The skin grows moister, and the sweat..begins to have a peculiar fœtid smell. 1798 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening (ed. 2) xviii. 297 Let spring sown seeds be watered occasionally, according to the weather, to keep them moist. 1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul iii. iv. 394 The Gurmseer itself is moist, and sometimes even marshy. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. xi. §95. 321 Moist winds..lose so much heat when they reach the cold mountain peaks, that condensation rapidly takes place. 1901 F. Norris Octopus ii. iii. 379 Two days before it had rained copiously, and the soil, still moist, disengaged a pungent aroma of fecundity. 1972 T. Keneally Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith vi. 51 All the time he sucked a pebble to keep his mouth moist. 1993 Toronto Life July 68/2 The food is pretty good..: moist, herby meatballs with a dark firm crust. b. Of a plant, fruit, etc.: juicy, succulent; not withered or dry; fresh as opposed to dried. Merging with sense A. 1a in later use.figurative in quot. c1400. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [adjective] > having fluid or sap sappy1100 moista1382 wateryc1425 fatty1552 juiced1597 succulent1601 juiceful1619 succiferous1655 lymphatic1673 racy1676 lymphous1682 succous1694 succose1859 sebaceous1899 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Job viii. 16 Moiste semeþ þe resshe before þe sunne come. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. 68 (MED) Matrymonye I may nyme a moiste fruit with-alle. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 41^v It [sc. elm wood] is then best of all riuen, clouen and cut in sunder when it is moyst and greene. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 45^v Grasse..(too greene and moyst) yf it be carryed into the Loft, rotteth, and the vapour being ouerheated, falleth on fyre and burneth. 1611 Bible (King James) Num. vi. 3 Nor [shall he] eate moist grapes, or dried. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 224 Will these moyst Trees..page thy heeles And skip when thou point'st out? View more context for this quotation a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 29 A battle, sweete, moist, and (as wee say) a naturall grasse. 1843 C. Dickens Christmas Carol iii. 83 The figs were moist and pulpy. 1992 Atlantic Apr. 105/3 ‘Shelling’ beans are eaten when the seeds are mature and plump but still moist. †c. Of a shoe: new, not worn, supple. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 457 Hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed ful streite yteyd, and shoes ful moyste and newe. †d. Of beer: fresh, not stale. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [adjective] > new moistc1390 moistyc1390 the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [adjective] > fresh or new newa1300 moistc1390 undiffadedc1430 green1585 youthful1594 virent1595 virgin1600 unhandleda1657 virginala1659 original1756 untrite1781 unclichéd1946 c1390 G. Chaucer Sir Thopas 1954 Notemuge to putte in ale Wheither it be moyste or stale. c1390 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale 315 A draghte of moyste and corny ale. e. Of an eye: wet with tears, ready to shed tears. In 16–17th cent. also: †watery, rheumy (as a sign of old age or illness) (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] > suffused or wet with tears wet?c1225 beweptc1320 tearyc1374 moistc1390 watery1447 watered1571 blubberedc1575 vaporous1583 swelling1769 moist-eyed1797 the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > [adjective] > excretion from eyes wetc1275 beteareda1586 moist1600 swellinga1616 brimful1700 moist-eyed1797 c1390 G. Chaucer Melibeus 2182 Whan that thy freend is deed lat nat thyne eyen to moyste ben of teerys. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 181 Haue you not a moist eie, a dry hand,..a white beard,..and will you yet call your selfe yong? View more context for this quotation 1616 B. Jonson Epicœne i. i, in Wks. I. 531 Weake hammes, moyst eyes, and shrunke members. View more context for this quotation 1683 J. Chalkill Thealma & Clearchus I. 32 Sorrow deny'd to let Her moist eyes sleep, for her increasing fears Conspir'd to keep them open with her tears. 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 187 For the Gargol in Hogs. The signs of which are, hanging down of the Head..moist Eyes, staggering, and loss of Appetite. 1773 J. Robertson Poems (rev. ed.) 135 Tho' charitable, kind, sincere, Tho' moist your eye with Pity's tear. 1820 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone (new version) ii, in Misc. Poems III. 28 On the banner..He glanced a look of holy pride, And his moist eyes were glorified. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 64 The tender sound.., Made his eye moist. 1897 ‘H. S. Merriman’ In Kedar's Tents vi A round-faced, chubby little man, with a tender mouth and moist dark eyes looking kindly out upon the world. 1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xiii. 68 Mr. Wrenn's eyes were moist. Here was a friend already. 1971 I. Murdoch Accidental Man 31 One eye was tightly closed, the other hugely wide, moist as with unshed tears. 1993 I. Welsh Trainspotting 45 There were a few moist eyes when the 'Tones sang James Connolly. f. Of a season, climate, etc.: wet; rainy; having some rain; having a considerable rainfall. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective] > wet (of weather, place, or time) wetc893 moista1398 waterya1398 moistya1500 waterish1545 washy1566 rotten1567 slabby1653 weety1658 late1673 fresh1790 slottery1790 soft1812 givey1829 juicy1837 sploshy1838 sposhy1842 slip-sloppya1845 splishy-splashyc1850 shabby1853 soppy1872 sappy1885 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 123 Ȝif þe wintir is drye & springinge tyme and heruest is moist and rayny, þanne nedis in somer ben I-bred feueres. 1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde iii. viii. 147 One somer is softe and moyste, And another is drye and wyndy. 1540 R. Jonas tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. f. xliiii The hote and moyste whether. 1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 18 Thys moyst and foggie Clime. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies ii. ii. 84 The night being colder then the day, is likewise more moist. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 53 Ye Swains, invoke the Pow'rs who rule the Sky, For a moist Summer, and a Winter dry. View more context for this quotation 1788 T. Jefferson Mem. 22 Apr. in Writings (1984) 655 The white grape, though not so fine for wine as the red..and more liable to rot in a moist season, yet grows better if the soil be excessively poor. 1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul i. v. 132 Some places are refreshed in summer by breezes from moister countries. 1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vii. 58 The weather moist and raw. 1900 Nature 19 July 277/2 A moist climate would tend to leach the calcareous matter from the rock. 1990 Soviet Life Dec. 25 The warm and moist climate of the region provides a perfect environment for southern plants and taiga and tundra vegetation. g. Of the vagina: lubricated, as in a state of sexual arousal; (of a woman) sexually aroused, excited. Also (in extended use of a sexual act): arousing. ΚΠ 1958 J. Barth End of Road vii. 110 I felt my nostrils flare like a stud's at the nubby tight sex of them, flustered and pink-scrubbed, giggling and moist. 1968 T. Wiseman Quick & Dead 187 What expectancy was rife in your body? Were you already moist then? 1990 D. M. Thomas Lying Together xviii. 190 The vaginal tightness so familiar from Anna during menstruation soon yielded, becoming moist and deliriously receptive. 1991 M. Gray First Fifty 56 We hung around in bed too long doing moist wicked things. 1997 ‘Q’ Deadmeat 181 I want to see you, I'm moist thinking about you. 2. Chiefly History of Science. Designating a quality associated with wetness and regarded in medieval and later times as one of the four qualities inherent in all things and characterizing the four elements (element n. 9a); having a preponderance of this quality. Cf. humid adj. b.See also cold adj. 6a and the note there, dry adj. 1b, hot adj. 3. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > [adjective] > associated or connected with moista1393 waterisha1425 the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [adjective] > humours > specific moista1393 cholerica1398 melancholya1398 radicala1398 sanguinea1398 adusta1400 phlegmatica1400 adusted1547 phlegmatical1586 humid1604 sanguineous1732 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 1061 (MED) Cancer..is moiste and cold. a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 12 (MED) Oon of þe men is of an hoot complexioun & a moist. c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls 380 Nature..That hot, cold, hevy, lyght, moyst, and dreye Hath knyt by evene noumbres of acord, In esy voys began to speke and seye [etc.]. ?c1450 (a1388) tr. Richard of Wallingford Exafrenon (Digby) in D. J. Price & R. M. Wilson Equatorie of Planetis (1955) 204 (MED) Of all the planetis..summe..ar clepid hote & colde, drye & moyste. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 51^v (MED) Blood is rennynge hoot & moyst..and of alle humouris moost noble. 1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xvi. 73 Youth is..Hote, and moyste, and full of lustines. ?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. a.i^v It shal do good to moyst persons and women. 1589 R. Greene Menaphon To Ladie Hales sig. 2 The driest melancholy hath a moistest sanguin. 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet* i. i. 106 + 11 And the moist starre, Vpon whose influence Neptunes Empier stands, Was sicke almost to doomesday with eclipse. 1671 J. Sharp Midwives Bk. vi. vii. 407 Childrens moist brains breed moist humours that run to their ears. 1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 71 In Children and Women the cooler and moister Diet is most agreeable to preserve their natural Pulses. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 183 They [sc. fish] are cold and moist, and must needs, say they, produce juices of the same kind. 1819 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia (new ed.) at Androgynous Mercury is reckoned androgynous, being hot and dry when near the Sun, cold and moist when near the moon. 1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies viii. 330 Being a water-baby, his radical humours were of a moist and cold nature. 1998 Zest Sept. 151/3 If you go along with a ‘dry’ problem, such as a dry rash..then you might be sent away with a dose of a ‘moist’ lunar herb such as linden flower. †3. Chiefly poetic. Yielding moisture or water; bringing rain or moisture; containing water or other liquid. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [adjective] > yielding moista1393 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 3123 (MED) Thilke blod..scholde have ese To regne among the moiste veines. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. i. sig. Cc5 The moist daughters of huge Atlas stroue Into the Ocean deepe to driue their weary droue. 1606 Returne from Pernassus i. ii. sig. B Plaine Meteors, bred of the exhalation of Tobacco, and the vapors of a moyst pot, that soare vp into the open ayre. a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. i. 164 Ere twice in murke and occidentall dampe Moist Hesperus hath quench'd her sleepy Lampe. View more context for this quotation 1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 6 Moist Arcturus clouds the Sky. †4. Liquid; watery. Also of movement in quot. ?a1425¹ at sense A. 1a [after classical Latin liquidus] : fluid, smooth (rare). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > [adjective] wateringOE liquid1382 moista1393 runninga1398 liquidyc1400 diffluent1592 flowsome1674 liquorous1678 diffluous1727 runny1770 liquiform1805 aquiform1835 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 3123 (MED) The moiste dropes of the reyn Descenden into Middilerthe. a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Jer. xliv. 25 Offre to it moist sacrifices [a1382 E.V. sacryfises of licoures]. ?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. v. met. v. 9 Oothre beestis..overswymmen the spaces of the longe eir by moyst fleynge [L. liquido uolatu]. c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxxi. 105 Water is of his nature calde and moiste. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 744/2 I swalowe downe any medycyne or lycour that is moyste, je assorbys. 1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades i. 11 Neptunes moist wildernes they plow [Gk. ἐπέπλεον ὑγρὰ κέλευθα]. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 268 But for my teares, The moist impediments vnto my speech, I had forestald this deere and deep rebuke. View more context for this quotation 1653 Duchess of Newcastle Of Elements in Poems & Fancies 31 This single Element it selfe to turne To severall qualities, as Fire to burne. So water moist, that heate to quench. 5. Science. Associated or connected with liquid. a. Medicine. Characterized or accompanied by an effusion of serous fluid or by the production of mucus, pus, etc. Cf. wet adj. 13a, humid adj. d. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > discharge or flux > [adjective] > characterized by waterya1400 wet1566 humid1813 moist1876 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 100 Þat is comyn in alle drye lepra more þan in moiste. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 114^v (MED) Þer ar 2 spicez of scabbes, Moist & Drie. 1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. ii. iii. 173 In the Cure of an Ulcer with a moist Intemperies slabby and greasy Medicaments are to be forborn. 1684 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. 256 Scabies, the Itch: 'Tis of two sorts, moist and dry. 1744 J. Armstrong Art of preserving Health i. 19 Fierce coughs will teize you..Or moist Gravedo load your aching brows. 1829 S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) III. 487 It is from this cause [sc. putrefaction], the affected part becomes soft, corrupt, and offensive, and is called moist gangrene. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Treat. Theory & Pract. Med. i. ii. 86 When..the gangrene is what is usually called ‘moist’. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 524 The healing of a chronic moist eczema may be indefinitely delayed by washing. 1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) II. xv. 46/1 The cough productive of sputum may be described as ‘moist’ or ‘loose’. 1994 L. de Bernières Capt. Corelli's Mandolin xxi. 136 Pelagia found the flesh of the foot dry, and sighed as if a burden had been lifted away; it was the moist gangrene that was worse. †b. Designating a process in which a solvent or other liquid is used. Cf. wet adj. 17b, humid adj. c. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1796 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) II. 395 No effectual method of analyzing this ore [sc. Tui stone], in the moist way has as yet been discovered. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 812 The assay of ores, comprehending the mechanical part: that is, by washing; the chemical part, or assays by the dry way; and the assays by the moist way. 1876 Galaxy July 132/1 None but those metals which have at least two degrees of oxidation in the moist way are capable of producing aniline black. c. Medicine. Of sounds heard in auscultation: reminiscent of the sound of air bubbling through fluid, bubbling. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sounds heard in body > [adjective] > sounds in auscultation puerile1821 pectoriloquous1824 large1827 sibilant1833 tubular1834 moist1843 rhonchal1843 pectoriloquial1846 redux1848 murmurish1851 rhonchial1852 bronchophonic1862 sticky1872 coarse1879 skodaic1882 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xx. 230 The only stethoscopic phenomena observed were extensive minute and moist bronchial râles. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 10 Two great classes of the dry and of the moist sounds. 1904 Appleton's Med. Dict. at Râle Subcrepitant râle, Submucous râle, a fine moist, bubbling sound, heard in inspiration or expiration or both. 1984 Mod. Vet. Pract. 65 204 Lungworms primarily affect 4- to 6-month-old calves, which become febrile and dyspneic, with moist rales. 1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) I. v. 258/1 In an hour or two the patient is..acutely ill. His temperature soars, his chest is full of moist sounds, [etc.]. 1992 Age & Ageing 21 43/1 Lung crepitations (rales) are moist crackly lung sounds heard on auscultation in inspiration or expiration. †6. figurative. Fresh, vital; nourishing; refreshed; (also) undisciplined, weak; (perhaps) carnal, indulgent. Cf. moist v. 3, moisture n. 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > full of vigour freshc1325 moistc1400 vigorous1548 c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 62/24 Aȝenus drie, dede werkis for defaute of moist grace to loue God, he ordeinede a man wiþ a drie hond. c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 28/6 But us bihoueþ..þat we leue not to holde Godis hestis for no moist and inordinat loue of worldli þinges. a1500 Twelve Profits of Tribulation (Rawl.) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 396 (MED) Hertis which arne grene in begynnyng of conuersion and moiste in carnall affeccions..be not departed from þe fals frendship of hir enemyes. 1508 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. (1876) 176 Make them moyst with the due of thy grace. †7. poetic. Tearful; accompanied by tears. Cf. sense A. 1e. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] weepingc900 wopi?c1225 greetingfula1340 greetyc1350 weeplyc1374 weepfula1382 weepinglyc1440 lachrymablec1450 moistc1450 lachrymous1490 rainy1563 tearfula1586 greeting1588 collachrymate1593 crying1594 onion-eyeda1616 maudlinc1616 rheumatica1627 fluxed1628 lachrymalc1630 crystal-droppinga1650 showery1654 lugent1656 Niobean1665 lachrymary1693 lachrymose1727 moist-eyed1797 larmoyant1824 pluviose1824 ploratory1831 lachrymating1837 screwmatic1847 pipy1861 weepy1863 blarting1898 leaky1905 c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 238 Þei þat arn in lownes arn wete & moyste in wepynge & in deuocyoun. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. B Tis as common, To weepe at parting, as to be a woman..play not this moyst prize. 1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 24 in Justa Edouardo King Where ere thy bones are hurl'd, Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides,..Or whether thou to our moist vowes deni'd, Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old. 8. Given to drinking; affected by drink. Cf. wet adj. 14. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > alcoholic or addicted to drinking drunkensomea1300 drunkelew1362 drunksomec1475 drunken1548 boozing1569 boozy1592 bousy1592 moisty1593 unsober1611 upsy-friesy1617 moist1619 sottish1632 swilling1633 bibacious1663 intemperate1680 swill-bellied1680 swill-down1693 wet1699 potative1737 compotatory1817 alcoholic1845 drinking1856 bibulous1861 on the drink1865 1619 R. Harris Drunkards Cup 8 By the testimony of the loosest and moystest naturalists, the very Poets. 1993 Frank 8 July 9/1 Tim Ralfe, moist and garrulous Charest sleazemaster. B. n. 1. That which is moist; moisture. Also: moist quality, the state of being moist. rare after 18th cent. (now U.S. regional). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun] wetc888 wetec897 wetnessc950 wekea1300 wokeness1340 moistc1387 moistnessc1390 moisturec1390 dank?a1400 humidity1412 wakc1485 waknessc1520 aquosity1528 weakinessa1642 succity1646 fogginess1674 damp1706 the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > [noun] moistnessc1390 moisturea1398 humidityc1450 waterishness1532 moist1562 dankishness1576 moistishness1576 dankness1601 dampishness1607 madidity1656 dampness1665 humidness1727 madidness1731 dampiness1830 c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 420 He knew the cause of euery maladye, Were it of hoot or coold or moyste or drye, And where engendred and of what humour. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 379 Fyr..is withoute moist, al drye. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 1564 Abouten it is gras spryngyng, For moiste so thikke and wel likyng That it ne may in wynter dye. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Jasp l. 139 in Poems (1981) 8 Riches..Quhilk maith, nor moist, nor vther rust can freit. 1562 W. Turner Bk. Natures Bathes Eng. f. 3^v, in 2nd Pt. Herball It is good for the crampe and for all colde diseases and moyste of the synewes. 1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 86 She lodgeth heate, and cold, and moist, and drye, And life, and death, and peace, and warre together. 1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 92 Mirtles and Bayes for want of moist grew wan. ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses viii. 110 The deepe moist then They further reacht. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 652 Who..Bear his swift errands over moist and dry, O're Sea and Land. View more context for this quotation 1745 E. Young Consolation 6 The Moist of human Frame the Sun exhales; Winds scatter, thro' the mighty Void, the Dry. 1981 L. A. Pederson et al. Ling. Atlas Gulf States 0199/096 [Land] keeps too much moist on it. †2. = moist sugar n. at Compounds 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > unrefined or brown sugar red sugar?a1425 black sugarc1430 panele1562 Canary sugar1568 soft sugar1581 muscovado1592 moist sugar1604 cassonade1657 brown sugar1704 bastard1766 Lisbon1767 bastard sugar1785 moist1809 sand1819 panela1830 piloncillo1844 pilonci1845 penuche1847 1809 J. T. Allingham in Examiner 12 Mar. 175/2 Ben. What's your pleasure ma'am? Woman. A pound of shilling moist. 3. British regional. A mist, a fog. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun] misteOE roke1292 vapourc1386 nyle1481 stove1513 fumec1550 rouka1586 misting1604 steam1612 dampa1616 petty-fog1641 smoke1648 brume1694 muga1728 ure1818 nebule1869 nebula1894 moist1903 M1904 clag1940 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 144/2 [Lancs.] There's a thick moist this morning. Compounds C1. Parasynthetic. a. † moist-brained adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe i. i. sig. A3 I..know him to be a dull moist braind Asse. moist-eyed adj. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > [adjective] > excretion from eyes wetc1275 beteareda1586 moist1600 swellinga1616 brimful1700 moist-eyed1797 the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] weepingc900 wopi?c1225 greetingfula1340 greetyc1350 weeplyc1374 weepfula1382 weepinglyc1440 lachrymablec1450 moistc1450 lachrymous1490 rainy1563 tearfula1586 greeting1588 collachrymate1593 crying1594 onion-eyeda1616 maudlinc1616 rheumatica1627 fluxed1628 lachrymalc1630 crystal-droppinga1650 showery1654 lugent1656 Niobean1665 lachrymary1693 lachrymose1727 moist-eyed1797 larmoyant1824 pluviose1824 ploratory1831 lachrymating1837 screwmatic1847 pipy1861 weepy1863 blarting1898 leaky1905 the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] > suffused or wet with tears wet?c1225 beweptc1320 tearyc1374 moistc1390 watery1447 watered1571 blubberedc1575 vaporous1583 swelling1769 moist-eyed1797 1797 S. T. Coleridge Osorio (1873) iii. i. 84 This must needs bring on the idiotcy Of moist-eyed penitence. 1834 W. S. Roscoe Poems 37 I follow thee, and see thy hands unfold The love-sick primrose pale, And moist-eyed violet. 1999 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 16 June 20 Every month he buys tickets to more concerts than he has time to attend. But Stevenson is no moist-eyed melomane. moist-lipped adj. ΚΠ 1875 Overland Monthly Nov. 477 A gushing holy devotion and an eloquent pious ardor sometimes walk up the short church stair-way hand in hand with a moist-lipped lechery. 1993 Yale French Stud. No. 83. 173 He teaches ‘aesthetics’ to nubile, moist-lipped young women. † moist-natured adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved 136 These being of a very hot, or warme and brackish nature are a very Excellent Soyle for a cold moyst-natured Land. 1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ v. 67 A very excellent Soyl for a cold moist natured Land. moist-nosed adj. ΚΠ 1934 D. Thomas Let. 9 May in Sel. Lett. (1966) 120 I would have introduced a..paragraph all about her nasty little moist-nosed muse. moist-skinned adj. ΚΠ 1865 Cornhill Mag. July 51 Tommy was a blue, moist-skinned little fellow. 1976 Ecol. Monogr. 46 322/1 For most moist-skinned amphibians, the models can be applied unchanged. moist-tinged adj. ΚΠ 1943 D. Gascoyne Poems 1937–42 55 Obscurely still beneath a moist-tinged blank Sky like the inside of a deaf mute's mouth. b. † moist-striking adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1816 L. Hunt Story of Rimini iv. 177 Then issue forth in this moist-striking air. C2. moist chamber n. a chamber in which microscopic specimens may be kept moist. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > apparatus > [noun] > for storing or containing boat1847 collecting box1857 moist chamber1869 Pasteur flask1869 plate1886 Petri dish1892 Pasteur pipette1899 Stender dish1900 straw1966 tissue-bank1968 1869 Monthly Microsc. Jrnl. (1874) 11 97 Recklinghausen's ‘moist chamber’ only enables us to arrest for a short time the dissipation of the fluid under examination. 1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) I. v. 539/2 The snip is placed in a drop of normal saline on a slide and is examined at intervals... If negative after 30 min, it may be kept in a moist chamber overnight and then re-examined. moist colour n. now historical and rare a watercolour paint in the form of a soft paste. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > types of lac1558 purpurin1558 colourish1598 earth1598 watercolour1598 earth colour1658 encaustic1662 lake1684 virgin tint1706 mosaic gold1746 bronze1753 gold bronze1769 cake colour1784 musive gold1796 sap-colour1816 repaint1827 moist colour1842 bronze powder1846 wax-colour1854 wax pigment1854 bitumen1855 chrome garnet1876 zinc-dust1877 zinc-powder1881 terra nera1882 earth pigment1900 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > paints oil colour1498 oila1536 oil paint1759 cake colour1784 colour cake1794 moist colour1842 powder colour1862 tube-colour1881 tempera1883 powder paint1911 poster colour1925 finger paint1935 poster paint1939 1842 Bristol Mirror 16 Apr. 4/6 Newman's and Ackerman's Water Colours; Windsor [sic] and Newton's Moist Colours; Japanned Sketching Boxes. 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 294 The pigments are prepared..as dry cake colours, as moist colours in earthenware pans..and in metal collapsible tubes. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 86/1 For water colours the pigments are prepared..as ‘moist colours’ contained in small porcelain dishes. 1918 A. W. Rich Water Colour Painting ii. 22 It will be of interest to discuss the type of the material—whether it should be the hard cake as used by the early masters, or the modern moist colour. 2014 T. Hickman & L. Hickman Unwept xi. She turned the clasp and opening it found a treasure of small tubes that were printed with the words ‘Moist Colour’. † moist gum n. Obsolete rare = dextrin n. ΚΠ 1872 W. Crookes tr. R. Wagner Handbk. Chem. Technol. iv. 361 Dextrine, gommeline, moist gum, starch gum, or Alsace gum, isomeric with gum arabic, and expressed by the formula, C₆H_I0O₅, is formed by boiling starch with a small quantity of almost any dilute acid. 1890 Cent. Dict. at Moist Moist gum. † moist measure n. Obsolete rare liquid measure; cf. wet adj. 12. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > liquid measure of capacity moist measure1562 1562 W. Turner Bk. Natures Bathes Eng. f. 13, in 2nd Pt. Herball A ciath..holdeth after moyste measure an unce and an halfe. † moist pleurisy n. Medicine Obsolete rare (a) pleurisy accompanied by expectoration; (b) pleurisy associated with bronchitis. ΚΠ 1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 669/2 Humid or moist pleurisy is now properly regarded as a complication of pleurisy with pulmonary catarrh. 1896 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Pleurisy Moist pleurisy, term formerly used to designate pleurisy accompanied by expectoration, and generally meaning pleurisy occurring as a complication of bronchitis. moist stove n. now historical and rare a hothouse heated with a moist heat. Cf. stove n.¹ 3. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > greenhouse or glass-house > hothouse stow1614 hothouse1629 stove1697 hot wall1739 moist stove1806 tan-stove1828 warm-house1843 stove-house1860 1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 59 I was sensible of something suffocating, much as when a person..goes into a very hot and moist stove.] 1806 J. C. Loudon Treat. Country Resid. I. 344 Stoves are of two kinds... Dry stoves are kept of a temperature in general between 55 and 70 degrees; and moist stoves between 65 and 90 degrees. 1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXXIV. at Stove When any sort of flowers are to be forwarded,..they may be plunged in the bark-bed, and some be placed upon shelves, &c. to succeed them. This sort of stove is sometimes called the moist stove. 1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) iii. ii. 816 The bark or moist stove..having a pit for bark or other fermenting matter instead of a stage. 1883 B. S. Williams Choice Stove & Greenhouse Flowering Plants (ed. 3) 110 All the species of Gardenia..should be potted in a compost..; and should be grown in a moist stove or frame with bottom heat where practicable. 1902 W. P. Wright Cassell's Dict. Pract. Gardening I. 297/1 They [sc. Dictyosperma] require a moist stove and rich, loamy soil. 1976 Orchid Rev. 84 313 It was thought in the 1700s that the correct environment for tropical orchids was provided by ‘the bark or moist stove’..a building glazed in front and exposed to the south in the manner of a greenhouse. moist sugar n. now rare unrefined or partially refined sugar. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > unrefined or brown sugar red sugar?a1425 black sugarc1430 panele1562 Canary sugar1568 soft sugar1581 muscovado1592 moist sugar1604 cassonade1657 brown sugar1704 bastard1766 Lisbon1767 bastard sugar1785 moist1809 sand1819 panela1830 piloncillo1844 pilonci1845 penuche1847 1604 T. Winter Third Dayes Creation 17 There the white sweetnesse of moist sugar, breeds Within the bowels of Canarie reeds. 1797 T. Rumney Let. 25 Jan. in A. W. Rumney From Old South-Sea House (1914) vi. 107 I have put in 3lbs. of tea at 4/6 per lb. and..perhaps I may spare you a little moist sugar. 1835 Court Mag. 6 169/1 The two Misses Larkin..wore their own sevenpenny-moist-sugar coloured hair. 1886 Archaeologia 50 150 This mazer was formerly used in the family as a moist-sugar bowl. 1957 R. W. Beachey Brit. W. Indies Sugar Industry in Late 19th Cent. ii. 49 Much of the sugar from the sugar colonies went to the refiners of moist sugar ‘pieces’. 1970 L. K. Johnson in Ecology (1974) 55 127 (title) Competitive aggression for moist sugar between two species of stingless bees. 1986 Rep. Comptroller & Auditor Gen. India1984-85 (Govt. of Punjab; Commerc.) 38 During 1982-83 and 1983-84, the percentage of moist sugar to the sugar produced was 11.0 and 10.9 in Gurdaspur mill. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). moistv. Brit. /mɔɪst/, U.S. /mɔɪst/ Forms: Middle English mooyst, Middle English most, Middle English–1500s moiste, Middle English–1500s moyste, Middle English–1600s moyst, 1500s– moist. Past tense α. Middle English moistide, Middle English moysted, Middle English moystyd, Middle English 1900s– moisted. β. Middle English–1500s moyste. Past participle α. Middle English imoisted, Middle English imoistid, Middle English moistid, Middle English moystede, Middle English moystid, Middle English ymoystede, Middle English–1500s moysted, Middle English–1600s 1900s– moisted. β. 1500s moyst, 1500s–1600s moist. Origin: Either (i) a borrowing from French. Or (ii) formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: French muster , moistir ; moist adj. Etymology: Either < Anglo-Norman muster to make moist and Middle French moistir to become moist, to make moist (13th cent. in Old French; French moitir ), or < moist adj. (though this is first attested slightly later). Compare later moisten v. and note at that entry. †1. intransitive. To become moist. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1350 Recipe Painting in Archæol. Jrnl. (1844) 1 65 Ȝef hit is i-druyet to druye, ethe theruppon with thi breth, ant hit wol moysten aȝeyn, ant thenne hit wol cachen the foyl fast. ?c1450 Recipe in M. Leach Stud. Medieval Lit. in Honor A. C. Baugh (1961) 295 (MED) Thour þe eyr & sunnys hete Þe gressys xul moystyn & waxin wete And castyn ere water..Into þe glas. a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 88 (MED) This herbes schul ben wele stampede with a pound of schepes talwe and a pounde of oyle dolyue wel medled, and lat hem stonden x dayes for to moysten. 2. a. transitive. To make moist; to moisten, wet. Now British regional and U.S. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)] weta950 bathec1000 drenchc1230 blotenc1325 danka1350 anointa1375 moista1382 beshed1382 moil?a1425 madefy?1440 arrouse1480 moisturea1500 humect1531 intinct1547 moisten1559 rinse1579 inebriate1610 irrigate1615 slocken1627 irriguate1632 humectate1640 madidate1656 slake1810 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Job xxi. 24 His bowelis ben fulle of talwȝ, & þe bones of hym ben moistid [L. irrigantur] with marwȝ. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke vii. 38 Sche..bigan to moiste [L. rigare] his feet with teeris. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 75^v Constantinus seiþ, drynk is nedeful for many maner cause, for it moystiþ þe drye body. 1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 9911 Blak brede..In hote watyr moystyd..she eet. a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 95 Ȝif it dry, moyst it aȝen with vrine of a mayde. c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. H4 With fayned teares she moysteth oft thy lap Tyll time that thy purse be taken in a trap. 1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 32 b Wyne heateth and moysteth the bodye. 1592 Countess of Pembroke tr. R. Garnier Antonius ii. sig. H6 His sworde Alreadie moisted is in his warme bloude. 1655 in S. Hartlib Reformed Common-wealth Bees 18 Rye..need not..be dryed, but beaten and moisted with its own liquor. 1683 London Jilt i. 96 The Green which conceals under it a very agreeable Red, must be somewhat wet and moisted with the Tongue or Finger. 1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 145 As evening moists the daisy by thy side. 1891 E. Arnold Light of World iii. 156 I stood..ashamed to moist Such sacred palms with water from such source. 1924 J. W. Raine Land of Saddle-bags 79 Then he'd moist it and rub it and grain it through a fine sieve. 1952 D. M. Jones Anathemata v. 130 From the dripping impost the gusted drops moisted the ransom'd flesh of both of us. 2000 San Francisco Examiner 5 Apr. zza-4/2 Try a melange of artichokes, favas and peas, moisted with lemon juice. †b. intransitive. To have a moistening effect; to be a source of moisture. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > be wet [verb (intransitive)] > make wet wetc1330 moistc1400 c1400 Prose Versions New Test.: 1 Cor. (Selwyn) (1904) iii. 6 (MED) Y plaunted & Apollo moysted [L. rigavit]; bote oure Lord ȝefeþ þe waxynge. & þerfore nouþer he þat plaunted is ouȝt, ne he þat moysted; bote he þat ȝefeþ þe waxynge is God. a1500 (?a1400) Stanzaic Life of Christ (Harl. 2250) (1926) 9832 [The fire of the Holy Ghost] likened is..To þo sotheron wynde..þat moystes & brennes bothe. 1526 Grete Herball cclxxx. sig. Qi^v/2 The kyrnelles in the quynces haue vertue to moyste, to smothe and soften, and therfore brothe that they be soden in is good for them that ben drye as of ptysyke or ethyke. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xxxvii^v Sprinkle a vessell of water and it moisteth not, but cast it out wholy together and it bothe washeth and norisheth. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples f. 5, in Bulwarke of Defence Waxe is good for plasters..it moisteth and is used for outwarde Medicines. 1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xx. 86 Walking in the dew moystes, and harmes. 1624 J. Donne Deuotions vii. 171 As thy water moysts, so it cooles too. †3. transitive. figurative. Originally: to inspire, nourish (the mind, a person, etc.); to refresh, encourage. Also later: to soften (the heart). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > make (more) sensitive or tender [verb (transitive)] > specifically of the heart moistc1390 tender1390 woke1393 asoftc1430 supply1534 dulce1558 entender1591 douce1593 unstone1594 moisten?a1661 c1390 (c1350) Proprium Sanctorum in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1888) 81 317 Prestes, techers, Confessours..dude Moyste wel þe hertes of trewe men eueridel. R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love ii. v. 80 Froo qwhens he byrnys with lufe swetist & with a draght of heuenly passage he is moystid & vmbesett & truly is transformyd with heit of happis to-cum. 1557 Sarum Primer 1 Good Lorde Jesu Christe,..moiste my minde with thy most precious bloude. 1578 G. Whetstone Promos & Cassandra: 2nd Pt. v. ii. sig. Liij^v Stormes of teares did showre, As myght, with rueth, haue moyst a stony hart. 1598 S. Rowlands Betraying of Christ sig. Diij And let my teares be flouds to moist my heart. 1611 J. Davies Scourge Folly 220 Bounties o'reflowing fovnt to moist the dry Faint Soules of Armes and Art, now drouping quite. †4. a. transitive. To slake the thirst of (a person); to quench (a thirst). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > slake thirst moistc1400 moisten1567 slack1631 c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 366 (MED) May no drynke me moiste, ne my thruste slake. c1450 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 71 To the temple of Bachus, the tauerne, To moysten ther your appetitys drey, Ful spedful ye rennyn. ?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 160 Thus passed he forthe his dynner in great lamentacion & hevynes, who was more fed & moysted w^t sorowe & teares than w^t owther pleasaunt metes or dylicate drynkes. b. transitive. To wet (the lips, throat, etc.) with drink; = moisten v. 2b. Obsolete (British regional in later use.) to moist one's clay: = to moisten one's clay at clay n. 4b. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > slake thirst > moisten with liquor or wine wash1390 moist1530 liquefy1826 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 639/2 I dyd nat drinke to day, I dyd but moyste my lyppes with a quarter of wine. 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 45 So they all drancke hartely except him self, who..dyd no more but a litle moyste his mowthe without, and so refreshed him self. 1606 Returne from Pernassus i. ii. sig. B3 Meete me an houre hence, at the signe of the Pegasus in Cheap-side, and Ile moyst thy temples with a cuppe of Claret. a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 277 Now no more The iuyce of Egypts Grape shall moyst this lip. View more context for this quotation a1645 W. Lithgow Scotland's Teares in Trans. Lit. & Antiquarian Soc. Perth (1827) 1 71 To moyst my sun-scorched veyne, with liquid drops. 1822 S. B. H. Judah Odofriede ii. ii. 46 The elements in all Their wild and terrible energy, battling Around his head, with not one drop to moist His clinging lip. 1834 A. Smart Rambling Rhymes 120 When he used to moist his clay An' lay his corn in. 1892 W. J. Linton Heliconundrums 88 I'll tak' a mere sup just to moist my mou'. 5. intransitive. U.S. To rain slightly, to drizzle. rare. ΚΠ 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap iii. 117 It was moisting when we started, and pretty soon it clouded up. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap iii. 118 It wasn't moisting any more—it was raining for fair. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.n.a1382v.a1350
随便看	inangulated inaniloquence inaniloquent inaniloquous inefficace inefficacies inefficacious inefficaciously inefficaciousness inefficaciousnesses inefficacities inefficacity inefficacy inefficience inefficiencies inefficiency inefficient inefficiently inefficients ineffigiate ineffrenate ineffugible ineffulgent inegal inegalitarian