moulder
/ˈmoʊldəɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.12 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Often followed by away or down: to cause (something) to decay or rot, or to crumble to pieces.
British usage; Transitive verb
verb
To cause (someone or something) to die away or disappear.
British usage; Obsolete; Transitive verb
verb
Often followed by away: to decay or rot, or to crumble to pieces.
British usage; Intransitive verb
verb
Often followed by away: of a group of people (especially an army): to diminish in number; to dwindle.
British usage; Intransitive verb; Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "In a certaine kingdome of theſe late-diſcovered Indies, vpon the day of a ſolemne proceſſion, in vvhich the Idoles they adore, are publikely caried vpo and dovvne, […] there are numbered of others ſeene, vvho proſtrating themſelves alongſt vpon the ground, endure very paciently to be mouldred and cruſhed to death, vnder the Chariots vvheeles, thinking thereby to purchaſe after their death, a veneration of holineſſe, of vvhich they are not defrauded."
- "[S]harp and corroding rheums had so early mouldered those rocks and hardest parts of his fabric [teeth], that a man might well conceive that his years were never like to double or twice tell over his teeth."
- "How many men have we seen moulder and crumble away great estates, and yet pay no debts?"
- "In buyldinge of a fortreſſe or other honorable mantion⸝ it aught to be well conſidered that the cement⸝ wherewith the ſtones be layde⸝ be firme and well bindynge. For if it be brokle ⁊ will mouldre a way with euery ſhowre of raine⸝ the buyldynge may nat contynewe⸝ […]"
- "To them [the Muses] Great WILLIAM's Glory to recal / VVhen Statues moulder, and vvhen Arches fall."
- "[H]is [Time's] gradual touch / Has moulder'd into beauty many a tovver, / VVhich, vvhen it frovvn'd vvith all its battlements, / VVas only terrible: […]"
Etymology
From mould (“loose friable soil; rotting earth regarded as the substance of the human body”) + -er (suffix forming frequentative verbs), probably influenced by mould (“furry growth of fungi”). Mould is derived from Middle English mold, molde (“loose friable soil, dirt, earth; earth as the substance out of which God made man, and to which the human body decays into after death”), from Old English molde (“earth, soil”), from Proto-Germanic *muldō (“dirt, soil; furry growth of fungi, mould”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmoʊldəɹ/
- British English: /ˈməʊldə/