Word: moist Part of Speech: adj Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle English moist, moiste [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman moist, moiste, moste, Middle French moiste, and Old French moiste, muste (“damp, moist, wet”) (modern French moite); further etymology uncertain, perhaps a blend of a Late Latin variant of Latin mūcidus (“mouldy, musty”) + a Late Latin derivative of Latin mustum (“unfermented or partially fermented grape juice or wine, must”). The noun is derived from the adjective. Pronunciation: /mɔɪst/ 1. Characterized by the presence of moisture; not dry; slightly wet; damp. Example: Will theſe moyſt Trees, / That haue out-liu'd the Eagle, page thy heeles / And skip when thou point'ſt out? Example: And [the Angel of the Lord] made the mids of the fornace, as it had bene a moiſt whiſtling wind, ſo that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them. 2. Of eyes: wet with tears; tearful; also (obsolete), watery due to some illness or to old age. Example: [H]aue you not a moiſt eie, a dry hand, a yelow cheeke, a white beard, a decreaſing leg, an increaſing belly? […] and will you yet call your ſelfe yong? fie, fie, fie, ſir Iohn. Example: Come, the other are conſiderations, when wee come to haue gray heads, and weake hammes, moiſt eyes, and ſhrunke members. Wee'll thinke on 'hem then; then wee'll pray, and faſt. 3. Of a climate, the weather, etc.: damp, humid, rainy. Example: Ye Swains, invoke the Pow'rs who rule the Sky, / For a moiſt Summer, and a Winter dry: / For Winter drout rewards the Peaſant's Pain, / And broods indulgent on the bury'd Grain. Example: [I]n the year 1752, which we may reckon among ſome of our moiſteſt Summers throughout England, more Rain fell at London than at Plymouth, according to an eſtimate made at both places; […] 4. Of the vagina: sexually lubricated due to sexual arousal; of a woman: sexually aroused, turned on. Labels: informal Example: He slid a finger in me, checking to make sure I was moist and ready for him. 5. Characterized by the presence of some fluid such as mucus, pus, etc. 6. Of sounds of internal organs (especially as heard through a stethoscope): characterized by the sound of air bubbling through a fluid. 7. Pertaining to one of the four essential qualities formerly believed to be present in all things, characterized by wetness; also, having a significant amount of this quality. Labels: historical Example: [T]he moiſt ſtarre, / Vpon whoſe influence Neptunes Empier ſtands, / Was ſicke almoſt to doomeſday with eclipſe, […] Example: […] Ergo it behooveth then, that the firſt age, and the firſt ſeaſon of things ſhould beginne in the moiſteſt Signe, which is Aries, and in his head, as the principall of the Members, the Fortreſſe of the Soule, and the Signe of Life. 8. Fluid, liquid, watery. Labels: obsolete Example: O pardon me, my liege, but for my teares, / The moiſt impediments vnto my ſpeech, / I had foreſtald this deere and deep rebuke, […] Example: For the chief, he in whom Pallas pour'd / Her store of counsels, Ithacus, aboard went last, and then / The moist ways of the sea they sail'd. 9. Bringing moisture or rain. Labels: also, obsolete, poetic Example: And the moiſt daughters of huge Atlas ſtroue / Into the Ocean deepe to driue their weary droue. Example: Ere twice in murke and occidentall dampe / Moiſt Heſperus hath quench'd her ſleepy Lampe: […]