mildew

mildew

English

Etymology

From Middle English mildewe, from Old English meledēaw, mildēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *milidauw, from *mili (“honey”) +‎ *dauw (“dew”). Compare West Frisian moaldau, Dutch meeldauw, German Mehltau. More at dew.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪl.djuː/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪl.d(j)u/
• Rhymes: -ɪldjuː, -ɪldu

Noun

mildew (uncountable)

1. (phytopathology) A growth of minute powdery or webby fungi, whitish or of different colors, found on various diseased or decaying substances.

Descendants

• → Catalan: míldiu
• → French: mildiou
• → Portuguese: míldio
• → Spanish: mildiu

Translations

growth of minute fungi

Albanian: myk (sq) m Arabic: تَعَفُّن‎ m (taʿaffun), عُفُونَة‎ f (ʿufūna) Armenian: բորբոս (hy) (borbos) Azerbaijani: kif Belarusian: цвіль f (cvilʹ), пле́сня f (pljésnja), бро́сня f (brósnja) Bulgarian: пле́сен (bg) f (plésen) Catalan: míldiu Chinese: Mandarin: 霉菌 (zh) (méijūn), 霉 (zh) (méi) Czech: plíseň (cs) f Danish: meldug (da), mug n or c Dutch: schimmel (nl) m, meeldauw (nl) m Finnish: home (fi) French: mildiou (fr) m Georgian: ობი (obi), მილდიუ (mildiu), ჭრაქი (č̣raki) German: Mehltau (de) m, Schimmel (de) m Greek: μούχλα (el) f (moúchla) Ancient: ἐρυσίβη f (erusíbē) Hebrew: טַחַב‎ (he) m (takhav) Hindi: फफूंदी (phaphūndī) Hungarian: lisztharmat (hu), üszög, rozsda (hu), peronoszpóra, penész (hu) Hunsrik: Milldau m Irish: caonach liath m, coincleach f Italian: muffa (it) f Jamaican Creole: junjo Japanese: 黴 (ja) (かび, kabi) Kazakh: зай (zai), зең (zeñ) Khmer: ផ្សិត (km) (phsət) Korean: 곰팡이 (gompang'i) Kyrgyz: көк дат (kök dat) Latin: aurūgō f, rōbīgō f Latvian: pelējums m Lithuanian: miltligė f Macedonian: му́вла f (múvla) Maori: kūpā, kāhekaheka, hōpurupuru Mongolian: хөгц (mn) (xögc) Polish: pleśń (pl) f Portuguese: míldio m, mofo (pt) m Romanian: mucegai (ro) Russian: пле́сень (ru) f (plésenʹ), ми́лдью (ru) f (míldʹju) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: плесан f, плијесан f, буђ m or f Roman: plesan (sh) f, plijesan (sh) f, buđ (sh) m or f Slovak: pleseň (sk) f Slovene: plesen f Spanish: moho (es) m, mildiu Swedish: mjöldagg (sv) Tagalog: tagulamin Tajik: мағор (maġor), пӯпанак (püpanak), карра (karra) Thai: please add this translation if you can Tibetan: ཧམ་འབུ (ham 'bu) Turkish: küf (tr) Ukrainian: плі́снява (plísnjava), цвіль (uk) f (cvilʹ), плі́сень (uk) f (plísenʹ) Uzbek: mogʻor (uz), poʻpanak (uz) Vietnamese: mốc (vi) Welsh: llwydni m West Frisian: skimmel

Verb

mildew (third-person singular simple present mildews, present participle mildewing, simple past and past participle mildewed)

1. (transitive) To taint with mildew.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iv]:

     He gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, and makes the harelip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the poor creature of earth.

2. (intransitive) To become tainted with mildew.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, OCLC 57395299:

     His bald purplish head now looked for all the world like a mildewed skull.

Translations

to taint with mildew

Dutch: met schimmel bedekken Finnish: homehduttaa (fi) German: schimmeln (de), verschimmeln (de) Japanese: かびる (ja) (kabiru) Spanish: enmohecer (es)

to become tainted with mildew

Czech: zplesnivět pf, plesnivět impf Dutch: beschimmelen (nl) Finnish: homehtua (fi), saada homehtumaan German: verschimmeln (de), schimmeln (de) Polish: pleśnieć impf, spleśnieć pf Russian: плесневе́ть (ru) impf (plesnevétʹ), заплесневе́ть (ru) pf (zaplesnevétʹ) Spanish: enmohecer (es)

See also

• mould, mold