Category:Must

Must, v. i. or auxiliary. Etym: [OE. moste, a pret. generally meaning, could, was free to, pres. mot, moot, AS. moste, pret. mot, pres.; akin to D. moetan to be obliged, OS. motan to be free, to be obliged, OHG. muozan, G. müssen to be obliged, Sw. måste must, Goth. gamotan to have place, have room, to able; of unknown origin.]

1. To be obliged; to be necessitated; -- expressing either physical or moral necessity; as, a man must eat for nourishment; we must submit to the laws.

2. To be morally required; to be necessary or essential to a certain quality, character, end, or result; as, he must reconsider the matter; he must have been insane. Likewise must the deacons be grave. 1 Tim. iii. 8. Morover, he [a bishop] must have a good report of them which are without. 1 Tim. iii. 7.

Note: The principal verb, if easy supplied by the mind, was formerly often omitted when must was used; as, I must away. "I must to Coventry." Shak.

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

1. The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation. "These men ben full of must." Wyclif (Acts ii. 13. ). No fermenting must fills ... the deep vats. Longfellow.

2. Etym: [Cf. Musty.]

Defn: Mustiness.

must Must, v. t. & i.

Defn: To make musty; to become musty.