Definitions and meaning of mou
mou
English
Etymology
From Cantonese 冇 (mou5), also influenced by Malay mau variant of mahu (“to want”).
Particle
mou
- (Malaysia, Singapore, colloquial, mainly Cantonese speakers) Sentence-final particle, forms a tag question.
- Kopitiam mou? ― Do you want to go to the coffee shop?
- Day trip mou? ― Do you want to go on a day trip?
- Hiking tomorrow. Onz mou? ― I/We are going on a hike tomorrow. Are you coming?
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch mouw, from Middle Dutch mouwe, from Old Dutch *mouwa, *mōwa, from Frankish *mauwa, from Proto-Germanic *mawwō.
Pronunciation
Noun
mou (plural moue)
- sleeve
Derived terms
- die aap uit die mou laat
- in sy mou lag
Äiwoo
Adjective
mou
- dark grue (dark green, dark blue)
References
- Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.
Asturian
Etymology
From Latin modus.
Noun
mou m (plural moos)
- way; manner
- result
Derived terms
- a mou
- d'otru mou
- de mou que
Catalan
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈmɔw]
- Rhymes: -ɔw
Verb
mou
- inflection of moure:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Czech
Pronunciation
Pronoun
mou
- accusative/instrumental feminine singular of můj
Fijian
Etymology
Related to macou from Proto-Oceanic *mʷasoqu.
Noun
mou
- (Kadavu) any plant from the Cinnamomum genus.
- spice of its bark, cinnamon
Synonyms
References
- Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (2008) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 3: Plants, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 191-3
- Gatty, Ronald (2009) “macou”, in Fijian-English Dictionary, Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, page 150
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French mol, inherited from Latin mollem.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mu/
-
- Homophones: moud, mouds, moue, moues, mous, moût, moûts
Adjective
mou (masculine singular before vowel mol, feminine molle, masculine plural mous, feminine plural molles)
- soft, pliable, flabby, mushy, squishy
- (figuratively, of humans, animals, events) lacking vigor or strength; tardy, slow, slack, weak; (of humans) easy to persuade, convince
- (informal, derogatory) pansy, spineless
- causing or smacking of tardiness, indolence; debilitating
- Une molle complaisance ― A debilitating complacency
- (of pillows, matresses, etc.) comfortable, soft
Derived terms
Noun
mou m (plural mous)
- (nominalized, poetic) pliability, softness, mushiness
- (butchering) lungs, lights (of a slaughtered animal) sold as lesser quality meat for cats or other pets
- (chiefly partitively and climbing, of a rope) slack
- Coordinate term: sec
- donne moi du mou ! ― pay me out some slack!
- l’escaladeur n’avait pas assez de mou pour le dévers ― the mountain climber didn't have enough slack for the overhang
- sec ? - non, du mou ! ― do I take up the slack? - no, pay me some more!
- something soft, pliable or mushy
- a man lacking impetuousness and decision; a pansy, softy
- Synonyms: faible, hommelet
- Antonym: dur
- (politics) a moderate
Derived terms
Further reading
- “mou”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Derived from French caramel mou (“soft caramel”). Attested since 1942. Doublet of molle.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmu/*, /ˈmu/°
- Rhymes: -u
Noun
mou m or f
- toffee (soft candy made from milk and caramelized sugar)
Adjective
mou (invariable)
- made of toffee
Derived terms
- caramella mou
- salsa mou (“caramel sauce”)
References
Mandarin
Romanization
mou
- Nonstandard spelling of mōu.
- Nonstandard spelling of móu.
- Nonstandard spelling of mǒu.
- Nonstandard spelling of mòu.
Usage notes
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Maori
Etymology
Elision of motu.
Noun
mou
- island, islet, alternative form of motu
Middle English
Noun
mou
- Alternative form of mowe (“haystack”)
Old Irish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Remodelled from the superlative moam on the analogy with regular adjectives.
Pronunciation
Adjective
mou
- comparative degree of mór
Mutation
References
- Kim McCone (1994) “An tSean-Ghaeilge agus a Réamhstair”, in K. McCone, D. McManus, C. Ó Háinle, N. Williams, L. Breatnach, editors, Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta (in Irish), Maynooth: Roinn na Sean-Ghaeilge, Coláiste Phádraig, →ISBN, §20.3, page 125:
Old Occitan
Pronunciation
Verb
mou
- third-person singular present indicative of mover
Ternate
Etymology
Cognate with West Makian mou (“mute”).
Pronunciation
Verb
mou
- (stative) to be mute
Conjugation
References
- Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
West Makian
Etymology
Cognate with Ternate mou (“mute”).
Pronunciation
Verb
mou
- (stative) to be mute
Conjugation
References
- Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours[1], Pacific linguistics (as mow)
Western Cham
Alternative forms
Etymology
Elision of lemou related to Malay lembu
Noun
mou
- cow
Zhuang
Etymology
From Proto-Tai *ʰmuːᴬ (“pig”). Cognate with Thai หมู (mǔu), Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᨾᩪ, Lao ໝູ (mū), Lü ᦖᦴ (ṁuu), Tai Dam ꪢꪴ, Tai Nüa ᥛᥧᥴ (mú), Shan မူ (mǔu), Ahom 𑜉𑜥 (mū), Bouyei mul, Nong Zhuang mu, Saek หมู่.
Pronunciation
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /mou˨˦/
- Tone numbers: mou1
- Hyphenation: mou
Noun
mou (classifier duz, Sawndip forms 𭸘 or 𭸙 or 𤝖 or 某 or 𭸲, 1957–1982 spelling mou)
- pig
Derived terms
Source: wiktionary.org