Link Centre Dictionary

must

UK/məst/ US/məs/ very common
noun (3) adjective (1)

noun

1.

a necessary or essential thing

  • “seat belts are an absolute must”
2.
3.

adjective

1.

highly recommended

  • “a book that is must reading”
Similar

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • all good things must come to an end
  • Assad must go curse
  • Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
  • cool heads must prevail
  • cooler heads must prevail
  • every dog must have his day
  • every dog must have its day
  • I must go
  • must weight

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.