must

English

Pronunciation

(stressed) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌst/
(unstressed) IPA^(key): /məs(t)/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ʌst
Homophone: mussed

Etymology 1

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.

Alternative forms

mus' (dialectal)

Verb

must (third-person singular simple present must, no present participle, simple past must, no past participle)

(modal auxiliary, defective) 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.
You picked one of two, and it wasn't the first: it must have been the second.
(modal auxiliary, defective) 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. (the requirement is an imperative)
This door handle must be rotated fully. (the requirement is a directive, necessary to operate the handle)
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 9:6:
  Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
(modal auxiliary, defective) Used to indicate that something that is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
The children must be asleep by now.

Usage notes

(auxiliary, to do with certainty): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating a strong probability of the predicate’s execution.
(auxiliary, to do as a requirement): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating mere intent for the predicate’s execution; and stronger auxiliary verb will, indicating that the negative consequence will be unusually severe.
The past tense of “must” is also “must”. In main clauses, this use of the past tense is almost always literary (see King James Bible, Leiber, and Alcott quotations at Citations:must). In subordinate clauses, it is more common: He knew what he must do. Otherwise, the past sense is usually conveyed by had to. It is possible to use was bound to for the past also. For this reason, have to and be bound to are also used as alternatives to must in the present and future.
The principal verb, if easily supplied (especially go), may be omitted. In modern usage this is mainly literary (see Housman and Tolkien quotations at Citations:must).
Must is unusual in its negation: must not still expresses a definite certainty or requirement. Need and have to, on the other hand, are negated in the usual manner. Compare:

You must not read that book. (It is necessary that you not read that book.)

You need not read that book. / You do not have to read that book. (It is not necessary that you read that book.)

The second-person singular (thou being the subject) no longer adds -est (as it did in Old English).

Conjugation

Conjugation of must

infinitive	—
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	must, mote^†	must
2nd-person singular	must, mote^†, motest^†
3rd-person singular	must, mote^†
plural	must, mote^†

subjunctive	must, mote^†	must

imperative	—

participles	—

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Translations

be required to

Afrikaans: moet (af)
Aghwan: 𐔱𐔴𐕘𐔰 (beġa)
Arabic: وَجَبَ‎ (ar) (wajaba) (present tense: يَجِب‎ (yajib)), يَتَحَتَّم‎ (yataḥattam), يَلْزَم‎ (yalzam), لَا بُدَّ‎ (lā budda)
Egyptian Arabic: (adjective) لازم‎ (lāzim)
Levantine Arabic: (adjective) لَازِم‎ (lāzim)
Armenian: պետք է (petkʿ ē)
Bashkir: тейеш (teyeş)
Belarusian: му́сіць (músicʹ), (predicative) паві́нен m (pavínjen), паві́нна f or n (pavínna), паві́нны pl (pavínny)
Bulgarian: тря́бва (bg) (trjábva)
Burmese: ရ (my) (ra.)
Catalan: deure (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 應該／应该 (zh) (yīnggāi), 必須／必须 (zh) (bìxū)
Czech: muset (cs)
Dalmatian: dovar
Danish: skulle (da)
Dutch: moeten (nl)
Esperanto: devi (eo)
Estonian: pidama (et)
Finnish: täytyy (fi)
French: devoir (fr)
Friulian: dovê
Galician: deber (gl)
Georgian: უნდა (unda)
German: müssen (de)
Alemannic German: müese
Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽 (skulan), 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌽 (þaurban)
Greek: πρέπει (el) (prépei)
Haitian Creole: dwe
Hindi: चाहिए (hi) (cāhie), पड़ना (hi) (paṛnā), (pattern: dative + verb + होना (hi) (honā)), होगा (hogā)
Hungarian: kell (hu), muszáj (hu)
Icelandic: verða (is)
Ido: mustar (io)
Indonesian: harus (id)
Irish: caithfidh, is éigean, ní foláir, bí ar
Italian: dovere (it)
Japanese: ...なければならない (...nakereba naranai) (conditional negative form + "naranai"), ...なくてはいけない (...nakutewa ikenai) (conditional negative form + "ikenai"), ...ないと駄目だ (ja) (...nai to dame da) (conditional negative form + "dame da"), ...なきゃ (ja) (...nakya) (informal), ...なくちゃ (ja) (...nakucha) (informal)
Khmer: ត្រូវ (km) (trəv)
Korean: 해야 하다 (haeya hada)
Ladin: dovei
Lao: ຕ້ອງ (tǭng)
Latin: debeō (la), debere, (use a verb in the periphrastic conjugations) futurus sum (i must be), (use a verb in the periphrastic conjugations) servandus sum (i must save)
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: privalo
Lü: ᦏᦱᧉ (ṫhaa²), ᦎᦸᧂᧉ (ṫoang²)
Macedonian: мо́ра (móra)
Malay: mesti
Mongolian: ёстой (jostoj)
Neapolitan: avé a
North Frisian: (Mooring) mötj, (Föhr-Amrum) skel, mut
Norwegian: måtte (no)
Occitan: deure (oc)
Old English: sċulan
Old Saxon: motan
Persian: باید‎ (fa) (bâyad)
Polish: musieć (pl)
Portuguese: dever (pt)
Romanian: trebui (ro)
Romansch: stuair, stuer, stueir, stuvair
Russian: (predicative) до́лжен (ru) m (dólžen), должна́ (ru) f (dolžná), должно́ (ru) n (dolžnó), должны́ (ru) pl (dolžný)
Samoan: tatau lava
Scots: maun
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мо́рати
Roman: mórati (sh)
Slovak: musieť
Slovene: morati (sl)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: dejaś impf, musaś impf
Upper Sorbian: dyrbjeć impf, (regional) musyć (hsb) impf
Spanish: deber (es), tener que
Swahili: lazima (sw)
Swedish: måste (sv)
Tagalog: dapat
Thai: ต้อง (th) (dtɔ̂ng)
Tok Pisin: mas (tpi)
Tongan: pau
Turkish: -meli (tr), -malı (tr), lazım olmak, gerek olmak
Ukrainian: му́сити (uk) (músyty), (predicative) пови́нний (povýnnyj), пови́нен (povýnen)
Urdu: چاہئے‎ (cāhie), پڑنا‎ (paṛnā), (pattern: dative + verb + ہونا (hōnā)), ہو گا‎ (hogā)
Vietnamese: phải (vi)
Welsh: bod (cy) rhaid i + pronoun or noun, gorfod (cy)
West Frisian: moatte
Yiddish: מוזן‎ (muzn)
Yup'ik: -naurte (verbal postbase)

said about something that is very likely, probable, or certain to be true

Arabic: لَابُدَّ‎ (lābudda)
Catalan: deure (ca)
Esperanto: sendube (eo) (adverb), certe (eo) (adverb)
Finnish: täytyy (fi)
French: devoir (fr)
Hungarian: biztos (hu), bizonyára (hu), minden bizonnyal, alighanem (hu), biztosan (hu), kétségkívül (hu), kétségtelenül (hu)
Italian: dovere (it)
Latin: certē (literally means "surely"; use present indicative)
Portuguese: dever (pt)
Russian: должно́ быть (ru) (dolžnó bytʹ) (adverb), наве́рное (ru) (navérnoje)
Spanish: deber de
Welsh: bod (cy) rhaid bod (cy) + pronoun or noun

Noun

must (plural musts)

Something that is mandatory or required.
If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.
Synonyms: imperative, necessity
Hyponyms: must-do, must-have, must-see
Antonym: no-no

Descendants

→ French: must

Translations

something mandatory

Dutch: moetje (nl) n
Finnish: pakko (fi)
French: must (fr) m, obligation (fr) m
Galician: deber (gl)
German: Muss (de) n
Greek: αναγκαιότητα (el) f (anagkaiótita), υποχρέωση (el) f (ypochréosi)
Italian: obbligo (it), dovere (it)
Norwegian: krav n, must (no) n
Plautdietsch: Muss m
Portuguese: dever (pt) m
Swedish: måste (sv)
Turkish: gereklilik (tr), zorunluluk (tr), olmazsa olmaz, şart (tr), koşul (tr), şıra (tr)

Etymology 2

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

Noun

must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)

The property of being stale or musty.
Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes.
- c. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ovid in Exile
  No sweet grape lies hidden here in the shade of its vine-leaves,
  No fermenting must fills and o'erflows the deep vats.

Translations

fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes

Albanian: musht (sq) m
Arabic: عَصِير‎ m (ʿaṣīr)
Armenian: մաճար (hy) (mačar) (slightly fermented, grapes)
Aromanian: mustu
Asturian: mostiu (ast) m
Basque: muztio
Bulgarian: шира (bg) f (šira)
Catalan: most (ca) m
Czech: mošt (cs) m
Dutch: most (nl) m
Esperanto: mosto
Finnish: puristemehu
French: moût (fr) m or mout (fr) m
Friulian: most m
Galician: mosto (gl) m
German: Most (de) m
Greek: μούστος (el) m (moústos)
Ancient: γλεῦκος n (gleûkos)
Hungarian: must (hu)
Ido: mosto (io)
Italian: mosto (it)
Latin: mustum n
Norwegian:
Bokmål: most (no) m
Nynorsk: most m
Persian: پوراب‎ (pūrāb)
Polish: moszcz (pl) m
Portuguese: mosto (pt) m
Romanian: must (ro)
Russian: муст (ru) m (must)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мошт m
Roman: mošt (sh) m
Spanish: mosto (es) m
Swedish: must (sv) c
Turkish: şıra (tr)
Venetian: mosto (vec) m
Welsh: gwin newydd m, mwst m

Verb

must (third-person singular simple present musts, present participle musting, simple past and past participle musted)

(transitive) To make musty.
(intransitive) To become musty.

Etymology 3

From Persian ‎ (mast, “drunk, inebriated”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭮𐭲‎ (mast).

Noun

must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)

Alternative form of musth
- 1936, George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant, an essay in the magazine New Writing:
  It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’.

Anagrams

MTUs, UMTS, smut, stum, tums

Dutch

Etymology

From English must, from Old English mōste, from the past tense of Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, whence native moeten.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mʏst/
Audio (file)

Noun

must m (plural musts)

a must (necessity, prerequisite)
Synonym: moetje
Een rijbewijs is een must als je taxichauffeur wil worden.
A driver's license is a must if you want to be a taxi driver.

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *musta. Cognate with Finnish musta, Veps must and Livonian mustā. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *mus-ta-, compare Norwegian Bokmål must (“steam, fume, mist”).[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmust/
Hyphenation: must

Adjective

must (genitive musta, partitive musta, comparative mustem, superlative kõige mustem or mustim)

black (color)
Lindude sulestik on must, aga tiibadel märkame valget laiku.
The plumage of the birds is black, but you can notice a white spot on the wings.
Dark, without light, illumination (and poorly visible).
Mustad sügisööd.
Dark autumn nights.
1. Without snow.
  Maa on must ja kelgutada ei saa.
  The ground is without snow and you can't go sledding.
Having dark skin.
Must poiss muudkui naeris.
The black kid kept laughing.
Dirty, unclean, full of garbage and/or grime.
Synonym: räpane
Mu riided said mustaks ja pidin neid pesema.
My clothes became dirty and I had to wash them.
1. Not requiring special skills, making something or someone dirty.
  Hauakaevaja must töö.
  The dirty job of a gravedigger.
Grim, dreary, hopeless, without any (good) solution.
Meeleolu on must.
The mood around here is dark.
1. Illegal, unofficial, disgraceful.
  Kartsin, et mu mustad teod tulevad päevavalgele.
  I feared, that my dark acts will come to light.

Declension

Declension of must (type külm)

	singular	plural
nominative	must	mustad
genitive	musta	mustade
partitive	musta	musti / mustasid
illative	musta / mustasse	mustadesse / mustisse
inessive	mustas	mustades / mustis
elative	mustast	mustadest / mustist
allative	mustale	mustadele / mustile
adessive	mustal	mustadel / mustil
ablative	mustalt	mustadelt / mustilt
translative	mustaks	mustadeks / mustiks
terminative	mustani	mustadeni
essive	mustana	mustadena
abessive	mustata	mustadeta
comitative	mustaga	mustadega

Noun

must (genitive musta, partitive musta)

The color black.
Halli värvi kombineerdes musta ja valgega suurendad enda usaldatavust.
By combining gray with black and white, you increase your own reliability.
Something colored in black.
Otsustasime, kumb mängib valgete, kumb mustadega.
We decided, who plays with whites (white chesspieces), and who plays with blacks (black chesspieces).
A person having dark skin.
Meie tulevikulootus ei ole enam lapsed, vaid hoopis mustad.
Our hopes for the future aren't our children anymore, but blacks.

Declension

Declension of must (type külm)

	singular	plural
nominative	must	mustad
genitive	musta	mustade
partitive	musta	musti / mustasid
illative	musta / mustasse	mustadesse / mustisse
inessive	mustas	mustades / mustis
elative	mustast	mustadest / mustist
allative	mustale	mustadele / mustile
adessive	mustal	mustadel / mustil
ablative	mustalt	mustadelt / mustilt
translative	mustaks	mustadeks / mustiks
terminative	mustani	mustadeni
essive	mustana	mustadena
abessive	mustata	mustadeta
comitative	mustaga	mustadega

Antonyms

valge

Derived terms

mustus
mustuma
mustendama
mustenma
mustama

Related terms

must auk
mustvalge
musträstas
süsimust
must sõstar

References

http://eki.ee/dict/ety/index.cgi?Q=must&F=M&C06=en

Finnish

Etymology 1

A variant of musta < minusta (“of me”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmust/, [ˈmus̠t̪]
Rhymes: -ust
Syllabification^(key): must

Pronoun

must

(colloquial) elative singular of mä
Must on tärkeetä, että.. / Minusta on tärkeää, että... (standard)
I think it is important that...

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English must.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɑst/, [ˈmɑs̠t̪]

Noun

must

(colloquial) must (something mandatory or required)
Se on ihan must!
It's a must!

Declension

Not inflected.

Synonyms

pakko; pakollinen juttu

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English must.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mœst/
Audio (file)

Noun

must m (plural musts)

(informal) that which is compulsory; an obligation; duty; must
Synonyms: essentiel, impératif
- 2003, Élisabeth Badinter, Fausse route, Odile Jacob, →ISBN:
  Comme le fait remarquer Daphne Patai, Loïs Pineau, contrairement à Catherine MacKinnon, postule que les femmes sont tout à fait capables de donner un consentement explicite et verbal sans en rester au geste et au sous-entendu. Non seulement l'explicitation n'est pas un problème, mais c'est un must.
  As Daphne Patai points out, Loïs Pineau, unlike Catherine MacKinnon, postulates that women are entirely capable of giving explicit and verbal consent without relying on gesture and insinuation. Not only is explanation not a problem, but it's a must.
(often humorous) must-have (item that one must own)
- 2014, Annie Ernaux, Regarde les lumières mon amour, Seuil, →ISBN, page 62:
  La fête des Mères s’affiche partout dans le centre commercial. À Auchan, un espace lui est réservé, rempli de robots, d’aspirateurs, de machines à café – le must apparemment – parfums, etc.
  Mother's Day is on display everywhere in the mall. At Auchan, a space is reserved for it, filled with appliances, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers — the apparent must-have — perfumes, etc.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈmuʃt]
Hyphenation: must
Rhymes: -uʃt

Noun

must (usually uncountable, plural mustok)

must (sweet fresh grape juice that has not fermented yet)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	must	mustok
accusative	mustot	mustokat
dative	mustnak	mustoknak
instrumental	musttal	mustokkal
causal-final	mustért	mustokért
translative	musttá	mustokká
terminative	mustig	mustokig
essive-formal	mustként	mustokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	mustban	mustokban
superessive	muston	mustokon
adessive	mustnál	mustoknál
illative	mustba	mustokba
sublative	mustra	mustokra
allative	musthoz	mustokhoz
elative	mustból	mustokból
delative	mustról	mustokról
ablative	musttól	mustoktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	musté	mustoké
non-attributive possessive - plural	mustéi	mustokéi

Possessive forms of must
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	mustom	mustjaim
2nd person sing.	mustod	mustjaid
3rd person sing.	mustja	mustjai
1st person plural	mustunk	mustjaink
2nd person plural	mustotok	mustjaitok
3rd person plural	mustjuk	mustjaik

Ludian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *musta.

Adjective

must

black

Middle English

Alternative forms

most, moste, moust, muste

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /must/

Noun

must (uncountable)

must (wine that is not fully fermented)
(rare, with qualifier) fruit juice

Descendants

English: must

References

“must, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin mustum, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mews- (“damp”).

Noun

must n (plural musturi)

unfermented wine; grape or other fruit juice
must (of grapes)

Declension

Declension of must

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) must	mustul	(niște) musturi	musturile
genitive/dative	(unui) must	mustului	(unor) musturi	musturilor
vocative	mustule		musturilor

Derived terms

mujdei
mustar
musti
mustometru
mustuială
mustărie

Related terms

mustos
mustăreață

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse muster, moster, from Latin mustum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɵst/

Noun

must c (uncountable)

A kind of soft drink, more commonly known as julmust
Unfermented fruit juice

Declension

Declension of must
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	must	musten	—	—
Genitive	musts	mustens	—	—

Anagrams

stum, tums

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *musta.

Adjective

must

black

Inflection

Inflection of must (inflection type 6/kuva)
nominative sing.	must
genitive sing.	mustan
partitive sing.	mustad
partitive plur.	mustid
	singular	plural
nominative	must	mustad
accusative	mustan	mustad
genitive	mustan	mustiden
partitive	mustad	mustid
essive-instructive	mustan	mustin
translative	mustaks	mustikš

inessive	mustas	mustiš
elative	mustaspäi	mustišpäi
illative	mustaha mustha	mustihe

adessive	mustal	mustil
ablative	mustalpäi	mustilpäi
allative	mustale	mustile

abessive	mustata	mustita
comitative	mustanke	mustidenke
prolative	mustadme	mustidme

approximative I	mustanno	mustidenno
approximative II	mustannoks	mustidennoks
egressive	mustannopäi	mustidennopäi

terminative I	mustahasai musthasai	mustihesai
terminative II	mustalesai	mustilesai
terminative III	mustassai	—

additive I	mustahapäi musthapäi	mustihepäi
additive II	mustalepäi	mustilepäi

Derived terms

musteta
Mustmägi
mustsil'mäine
mustverine

Noun

must

black

Inflection

Inflection of must (inflection type 6/kuva)
nominative sing.	must
genitive sing.	mustan
partitive sing.	mustad
partitive plur.	mustid
	singular	plural
nominative	must	mustad
accusative	mustan	mustad
genitive	mustan	mustiden
partitive	mustad	mustid
essive-instructive	mustan	mustin
translative	mustaks	mustikš

inessive	mustas	mustiš
elative	mustaspäi	mustišpäi
illative	mustaha mustha	mustihe

adessive	mustal	mustil
ablative	mustalpäi	mustilpäi
allative	mustale	mustile

abessive	mustata	mustita
comitative	mustanke	mustidenke
prolative	mustadme	mustidme

approximative I	mustanno	mustidenno
approximative II	mustannoks	mustidennoks
egressive	mustannopäi	mustidennopäi

terminative I	mustahasai musthasai	mustihesai
terminative II	mustalesai	mustilesai
terminative III	mustassai	—

additive I	mustahapäi musthapäi	mustihepäi
additive II	mustalepäi	mustilepäi

References

Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “чёрный”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Volapük

Noun

must (nominative plural musts)

must (new wine; sweet cider)

Declension

declension of must

	singular	plural
nominative	must	musts
genitive	musta	mustas
dative	muste	mustes
accusative	musti	mustis
vocative ¹	o must!	o musts!
predicative ²	mustu	mustus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Võro

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *musta.

Adjective

must (genitive musta, partitive musta)

black (colour)

Inflection

Inflection of must

	singular	plural
nominative	must	mustaq
accusative	musta	mustaq
genitive	musta	muste
partitive	musta	muste
illative	musta	muste mustehe
inessive	mustan mustahn	musten mustehn
elative	mustast	mustest
allative	mustalõ	mustelõ
adessive	mustal	mustel
ablative	mustalt	mustelt
translative	mustas	mustes
terminative	mustaniq	musteniq
abessive	mustaldaq	musteldaq
comitative	mustagaq	mustegaq

[1] ttp://eki.ee/dict/ety/index.cgi?Q=must&F=M&C06=en

must

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Verb

Usage notes

Conjugation

Translations

See also

Noun

Descendants

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

Translations

Verb

Further reading

Etymology 3

Noun

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Estonian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Noun

Declension

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

References

Finnish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Ludian

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

References

Romanian

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

Swedish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

See also

Anagrams

Veps