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mold (n.1)[mold 词源字典]: also mould, "hollow shape," c. 1200, originally "fashion, form; nature, native constitution, character," metathesized from Old French modle "model, plan, copy; way, manner" (12c., Modern French moule), from Latin modulum (nominative modulus) "measure, model," diminutive of modus "manner" (see mode (1)). From c. 1300 as "pattern or model by which something is shaped or made." To break the mold "render impossible the creation of another" is from 1560s.[mold etymology, mold origin, 英语词源]
mold (n.2): also mould, "furry fungus," early 15c., probably from moulde, past participle of moulen "to grow moldy" (early 13c.), related to Old Norse mygla "grow moldy," possibly from Proto-Germanic *(s)muk- indicating "wetness, slipperiness," from PIE *meug- (see mucus). Or it might have evolved from (or been influenced by) Old English molde "loose earth" (see mold (n.3)).
mold (n.3): also mould, "loose earth," Old English molde "earth, sand, dust, soil; land, country, world," from Proto-Germanic *mulda (cognates: Old Frisian molde "earth, soil," Old Norse mold "earth," Middle Dutch moude, Dutch moude, Old High German molta "dust, earth," Gothic mulda "dust"), from PIE root *mele- "to rub, grind" (see meal (n.2)). Specifically, since late (Christian) Old English, "the earth of the grave."
mold (v.): also mould, mid-14c., "to mix, blend;" late 14c. "to knead, shape," from mold (n.1). Figurative sense (of character, etc.) is from c. 1600. Related: Molded; molding.
moldable (adj.): also mouldable, 1620s, from mold (v.) + -able. Related: Moldably; moldability.
Moldavia: Latinized form of Moldova.
Moldavian: c. 1600 (n.); 1760 (adj.), from Moldavia + -ian.
molded (adj.): also moulded, 1680s, past participle adjective from mold (v.).
molder (v.): also moulder, "to crumble away," 1530s, probably frequentative of mold (n.3) "loose earth." Related: Moldered; moldering.
molder (n.): also moulder, mid-15c., "one who molds or forms," agent noun from mold (v.). From late 13c. as a surname.
molding (n.): also moulding, early 14c., "act of kneading," from mold (n.1). Architectural sense is from mid-15c.; carpentry sense is from 1670s.
Moldova: country in Eastern Europe, named for the river through it, probably from PIE root *mel- "dark, soiled, black."
moldwarp (n.): also mouldwarp, early 14c., moldewarp, from Proto-Germanic *moldo-worpo(n)-, literally "earth-thrower," from to Old English molde "earth, soil" (see mole (n.2) + weorpan "to throw" (see warp (v.)). Common Germanic, compare Old Saxon moldwerp, Dutch mulworp, Norwegian moldvarp, Danish muldvarp, Old High German multwurf, German Maulwurf (influenced by Maul "mouth").
moldy (adj.): also mouldy, 1570s, earlier mowly (late 14c.), from mold (n.2) + -y (2). Related: Moldiness.
mole (n.1): spot on skin, Old English mal "spot, mark, blemish," especially on cloth or linen, from Proto-Germanic *mailan "spot, mark" (cognates: Old High German meil, German Mal, Gothic mail "wrinkle"), from PIE root *mai- "to stain, defile" (cognates: Greek miainein "to stain, defile," see miasma). Specifically of dark marks on human skin from late 14c.
mole (n.2): type of small burrowing mammal (Talpa europea), mid-14c., probably from obsolete moldwarp, literally "earth-thrower." Spy sense first recorded 1974 in John le Carré (but suggested from early 20c.), from notion of "burrowing." Metaphoric use for "one who works in darkness" is from c. 1600.
mole (n.3): "breakwater," 1540s, from Middle French môle "breakwater" (16c.), ultimately from Latin moles "mass, massive structure, barrier," from PIE root *mo- "to exert oneself" (cognates: Greek molos "effort," molis "hardly, scarcely;" German mühen "to tire," müde "weary, tired;" Russian majat' "to fatigue, exhaust," maja "hard work").
mole (n.4): unit of molecular quantity, 1902, from German Mol coined 1900 by German chemist Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1912), short for Molekül (see molecule).
molecular (adj.): 1823, from molecule + -ar or else from French moléculaire or Modern Latin molecularis. Molecular biology first attested 1950.
molecule (n.): 1794, "extremely minute particle," from French molécule (1670s), from Modern Latin molecula, diminutive of Latin moles "mass, barrier" (see mole (3)). A vague meaning at first; the vogue for the word (used until late 18c. only in Latin form) can be traced to the philosophy of Descartes. First used of Modern Latin molecula in modern scientific sense by Amedeo Avogadro (1811).