Etymograph

English

molt

Molt comes from Latin mūtō ‘to move, remove’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-1‘to remove, send’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō1‘to move, remove’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mutian1reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mouten1
  5. English1500–presentmoult1
  6. Englishtodaymolt1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English molt

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-Wiktionary, English molt‘to remove, send’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtōWiktionary, English molt‘to move, remove’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mutianWiktionary, English moltreconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moutenWiktionary, English molt
  5. English1500–presentmoultWiktionary, English molt
  6. EnglishtodaymoltWiktionary, English molt

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to remove, send’

miss, message, mad, mess, commit, premise, madden, intermittent, omit, misnomer, transmutation, commutation, transmute, 18 more

through Latin mūtō ‘to move, remove’

mute, mutant, mutation, immutable, mutate, commutative, mutable, 13 more

through Middle English mouten

moult, 1 more

Today it means

verb —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “molt”. 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 *meyth₂- / molt

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