mustard
[ˈmɐ̞s.təd]
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.69 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A plant of certain species of the genus Brassica, or of related genera (especially Sinapis alba, in the family Brassicaceae, with yellow flowers, and linear seed pods).
Uncountable
noun
Powder or paste made from seeds of the mustard plant, and used as a condiment or a spice.
Uncountable
noun
One of a family of vesicants containing one or more 2-chloroethyl (C₂H₄Cl) groups, commonly used in chemical warfare and cancer chemotherapy.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "When the waitress brought the food, I asked whether she had any Dijon mustard."
- "He loved having mustard and toast for breakfast."
- "Mustard and cress sandwiches."
- "He's left-handed and in his adulthood didn't have a baseball glove to call his own. He borrowed one of mine and just out of the car, still wearing his lab coat having worked an overnight shift, he taught himself to throw right-handed and put plenty of mustard on it."
- "Everything about her year-old restaurant, from the minimalist menu (about a dozen items) with refreshingly drivel-free descriptions to the decor (unadorned warm mustard walls, unclothed bistro tables), reflects her love of bringing people to the table for good, simple food that's not eclipsed by bells and whistles."
- "My expectations of public services were nil, so any time within a month was fine by me. They did it in less than a week, which was mustard."
Etymology
From Middle English mustard, from Old French moustarde (French moutarde), from moust (“must”), from Latin mustum. Compare Saterland Frisian Muster (“mustard”), Dutch mosterd (“mustard”), German Low German Musterd (“mustard”), Icelandic mustarður (“mustard”). Displaced Middle English senep, from Old English senep, from Latin sināpi (“mustard”). Sometimes mistakenly thought to come from Latin mustum ardens, but such a Latin phrase is not attested, and it is well understood that that the final -ard is derived from Old French -arde. Doublet of mostarda.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: mustard, moustarde, mustum, -arde
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [ˈmɐ̞s.təd]
- British English: [ˈmʌs.təd]
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Abyssinian mustard
African mustard
alkali mustard
aniline mustard
ball mustard
beer mustard
black mustard
brown mustard