must

/məst/ verb, noun

Also a form of mote musth

Forms mote motest musts musting musted mus'

verb To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence. “You must arrive in class on time.”
verb To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate. “If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.”
verb Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true. “The children must be asleep by now.”
noun Something that is mandatory, required or recommended. “If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.”
noun The property of being stale or musty.
noun Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
noun Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes.
verb (transitive) To make musty.
verb (intransitive) To become musty.

Synonyms

imperative necessity mustiness moldiness

Antonyms

no-no

Etymology

From Middle English moste ("must", literally, "had to", the past tense of Middle English moten (“to have to”)), from Old English mōste (“had to”), 1st & 3rd person singular past tense of mōtan (“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, must, may”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną. Cognate with Dutch moest (“had to”), German musste (“had to”), Swedish måste (“must, have to, be obliged to”). More at mote.

From Middle English must, from Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.

See musth.

Webster’s 1913

verb To be obliged; to be necessitated; --expressing either physical or moral necessity; as, a man must eat for nourishment; we must submit to the laws.
verb To be morally required; to be necessary or essential to a certain quality, character, end, or result; as, he must reconsider the matter; he must have been insane.
noun The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation. "These men ben full of must." Wyclif (Acts ii. 13. ).
noun Mustiness.

Etymology [OE. moste, a pret. generally meaning, could, was free to, pres. mot, moot, AS. moste, pret. mot, pres.; akin to D. moetan to be obliged, OS. motan to be free, to be obliged, OHG. muozan, G. müssen to be obliged, Sw. måste must, Goth. gamotan to have place, have room, to able; of unknown origin.]

Etymology [AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. Mustard.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “must”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “must” (best matches first).

खादितव्य khāditavya to be eaten, what may be or must be eaten.

अप्रतिगृह्य a-pratigṛhya one from whom one must not accept anything.

आरम्भणीय ā-rambhaṇīya that with which one must begin, forming the commencement.

नमनीय namanīya to be bowed down to, one to whom one must pay obeisance, venerable.

खाद्य khādya eatable, edible, what may or must be eaten; ( am ), n. food, victuals.

विसि vi-si See under vi-ṣi, (according to Pāṇ. VIII. 3, 70. the participle must be vi-ṣita. )

भेय bheya to be feared, (the neut. may be used impersonally, e.g. arer bheyam, one must fear an enemy.)

चर्वण carvaṇa chewing; ( am ), n. chewing, masticating; sipping, tasting; food which must be chewed, solid food.

iː	see	ɪ	sit	e / ɛ	bed	æ	cat
ɑː	father	ɒ	hot (UK)	ɔː	law	ʊ	put
uː	too	ʌ	cup	ɜː	bird	ə	about
eɪ	day	aɪ	my	ɔɪ	boy	aʊ	now
əʊ / oʊ	go (UK / US)	ɪə	near	eə	hair	ʊə	tour

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

Vowels

Consonants that look unusual

Marks

Common word endings