Etymograph

English

mo

Mo (as in ‘half a mo’) is a clipping of moment.

  1. English1500–presentmoment1
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1380mo1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mo
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1380, William Langland: “With that ran there a route of ratones at…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentmomentWiktionary, English mo
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1380moWiktionary, English mo. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1380, William Langland: “With that ran there a route of ratones at…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- ‘good, great’

almost, mature, maturity, mistress, mat, maturation, maduro, matinee, demure, magisterial, matin, 18 more

through Proto-Germanic *maiz ‘more, to a greater degree’

most, 1 more

Today it means

adv To a greater degree.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mo”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / English moment / mo

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