mosey
/ˈmoʊ.zi/ verb, adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms moseys moseying moseyed mosy mozey mozy mawsy moosy moozy
- verb (chiefly US, dialectal, intransitive) To set off, get going; to start a journey.
- verb (chiefly US, dialectal, intransitive) To go off quickly: to hurry up.
- verb (chiefly US, dialectal, intransitive) To amble; to walk or proceed in a leisurely manner.
- adjective (UK regional) Hairy, furry.
- adjective (chiefly Newfoundland) Close, muggy; misty, hazy.
- noun (chiefly Ireland) A fool, an idiot.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
Unknown. Originally attested in Southern US dialects. Suggested origins include:
* Spanish vamos (compare vamoose)
* British dialectal mosey about (“walk around at leisurely pace”)
* an Algonquian term for "walk" (compare Ojibwe bimose (“she or he walks along”))
* proper name Mosey, pet form of Moses, in reference to the biblical Exodus which he led
From moss + -y (apparently reflecting Middle English open vowel lengthening).
From a pet form of the personal name Moses.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mosey”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details