must
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: 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.
Inflected forms:
form: must
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: must
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: -
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: must
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: mote
pos: verb
tags: archaic
first-person
present
singular
form: must
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: must
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: mote
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: motest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: must
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: must
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: mote
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: must
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: must
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: mote
pos: verb
tags: archaic
plural
present
form: must
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: must
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: mote
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
subjunctive
form: must
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
form: -
pos: verb
tags: participle
form: mus'
pos: verb
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: musts
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: mus'
pos: noun
tags: alternative
dialectal
Senses:
gloss: To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
defective
modal
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: You must arrive in class on time.
This door handle must be rotated fully.
Everybody told me I must stop worrying, but I couldn't, because I felt there must be something wrong.
You really must come and see us soon, pal. - We'll see: I can borrow my dad's car, but I must bring it back before midnight.
The physician said that I must / had to / would have to stop smoking.
Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
gloss: To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
defective
modal
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
Where would you have put the keyring? You couldn’t have lost it again! - I must have, because it's nowhere to be found.
I said it must be pretty late and I really must go.
She's being taken to the police car now , so they must be going to arrest her.
gloss: Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
defective
modal
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: The children must be asleep by now.
There's the doorbell. It must be Dad.
gloss: Something that is mandatory, required or recommended.
pos: noun
tags: auxiliary
defective
modal
examples: If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.
"There are no musts in my life - I'm free, white, and twenty-one."
Derived words: all good things must come to an end
Assad must go curse
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
cooler heads must prevail
cool heads must prevail
every dog must have his day
every dog must have its day
I must go
I must love you and leave you
I must say
must-buy
must get in front
must-have
must have been the wind
must have killed a Chinaman
must-learn
must-link
must-listening
must-move
must needs
must-read
must-try
musturbation
must watch
must-win
needs must
needs must when the devil drives
one must give to get
there must be something in the water
the show must go on
the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must
want must be one's master
what goes up must come down
you must be fun at parties
you must be new here
you must spoil before you spin
Translations: