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moss

(môs, mŏs)

a. Any of various green, usually small, nonvascular plants of the division Bryophyta, having leaflike structures arranged around the stem and spores borne in a capsule.

b. A patch or covering of such plants.

2. Any of various other unrelated plants having a similar appearance or manner of growth, such as Irish moss, Spanish moss, and the club mosses.

tr.v. mossed, moss·ing, moss·es

To cover with moss.

[Middle English, from Old English mos, bog, and from Medieval Latin mossa, moss (of Germanic origin).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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