must Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a necessary or essential thing
    • seat belts are an absolute must
  2. noun grape juice before or during fermentation
  3. noun the quality of smelling or tasting old or stale or mouldy
    mustiness; moldiness.
  4. adjective satellite highly recommended
    • a book that is must reading

WordNet

Must intransitive verb ∨ auxiliary
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.
Definitions
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
    Likewise must the deacons be grave. 1 Tim. iii. 8.
    Morover, he [a bishop] must have a good report of them which are without. 1 Tim. iii. 7.
    ✍ The principal verb, if easy supplied by the mind, was formerly often omitted when must was used; as, I must away. "I must to Coventry." Shak.
Must noun
Etymology
AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. Mustard.
Definitions
  1. The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation. "These men ben full of must." Wyclif (Acts ii. 13. ).
    No fermenting must fills ... the deep vats. Longfellow.
  2. Cf. Musty. Mustiness.
Must transitive verb & intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make musty; to become musty.

Webster 1913