Etymograph

English

mold

Mold comes from Middle English molde ‘mold, cast’, from Latin modulus ‘a small measure or interval’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-1‘to measure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mod-ós1‘measure’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*modos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodus2‘measure’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodulus2‘a small measure or interval’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400modle2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500molde2‘mold, cast’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1711mold2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin modus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English mold
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1711, Alexander Pope, Volume 1: “Crowned with an architrave of antique mould.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-Wiktionary, Latin modus‘to measure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mod-ósWiktionary, Latin modus‘measure’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*modosWiktionary, Latin modusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodusWiktionary, English mold‘measure’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodulusWiktionary, English mold‘a small measure or interval’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400modleWiktionary, English mold
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moldeWiktionary, English mold‘mold, cast’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1711moldWiktionary, English mold. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1711, Alexander Pope, Volume 1: “Crowned with an architrave of antique mould.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’

must, medical, medicine, medication, moderate, meditation, med, remedy, modest, medicinal, blackmail, medic, meditate, moderator, modulate, mete, mote, commode, 23 more

through Proto-Italic *modos

modernize, modality, 10 more

through Latin modus ‘measure’

modern, mode, mud, mood, commodity, modification, modal, modus, modicum, modifiable, 16 more

through Latin modulus ‘a small measure or interval’

model, module, modulation, modulus, modulo, 1 more

through Old French modle

moulder, 1 more

through Middle English molde ‘mold, cast’

mould, 2 more

Another origin of mold

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*muglōnąreconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350mygla
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moulen‘to grow moldy’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mowlde
  5. Englishtodaymold

From Middle English mowlde, noun use and alteration of mowled, past participle of mowlen, moulen (‘to grow moldy’), from Old Norse mygla (compare dialectal Danish mugle), from Proto-Germanic *muglōną, diminutive and denominative of *mukiz 'soft substance' (compare Old Norse myki, mykr (‘cow dung’)), from Proto-Indo-European *mewk- (‘slick, soft’).

Another origin of mold

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ml̥h₂téh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*muldō‘dirt, soil’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*moldureconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150molde‘earth, soil’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500molde
  7. Englishtodaymold

From Middle English molde, from Old English molde, from Proto-Germanic *muldō (‘dirt, soil’) (compare Old Frisian molde, Middle Dutch moude, Dutch moude, obsolete German Molte, Norwegian Bokmål mold, and Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (mulda)), from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥h₂-téh₂ (compare Ashkun mič, Kamkata-viri muři, mřey, mřëi, Prasuni mire, Waigali muk, all meaning "clay").

Today it means

noun A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mold”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin modus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *med- / mold

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