mosey en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈmoʊ.zi/ (US)
Etymology
Unknown. Originally attested in Southern US dialects. Suggested origins include: * Spanish vamos (compare vamoose) * British dialectal mosey about (“walk around at leisurely pace”) * an Algonquian term for "walk" (compare Ojibwe bimose (“she or he walks along”)) * proper name Mosey, pet form of Moses, in reference to the biblical Exodus which he led
Meanings
-
(US, dialectal, intransitive) To set off, get going; to start a journey.
Haven't got time. I must mosey up to the North End to see a man who has got a lovely throat. Nobody can find out what is the matter. He has puzzled all the doctors.
1910, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “chapter 1”, in Kilmeny of the Orchard:
- (US, dialectal, intransitive) To go off quickly: to hurry up.
-
(US, dialectal, intransitive) To amble; to walk or proceed in a leisurely manner.
We'll mosey along toward the river. Kinder take it easy an' drift the herd down slow so as to let the cattle put on flesh.
1919, William MacLeod Raine, “chapter 6”, in A Man Four-Square:“Was he runnin‘?” “No, he’s just moseyin‘ along, so slow you can’t hardly tell it. He’s comin’ this way.”
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| moseyed | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| moseyed | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| mosy | alternative | lexicographic | |
| mozey | alternative | lexicographic | |
| moseys | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| moseying | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| mozy | alternative | lexicographic |
Translations (12)
cs courat se (to amble) · pl wyruszyć (to set off) · pl ruszać się (to go off quickly) · de schlendern (to amble) · pl iść spokojnym krokiem (to amble) · cs šourat se (to amble) · sv släntra (to amble) · de losrennen (to go off quickly) · cs loudat se (to amble) · pl wyruszać (to set off) · de starten (to set off) · de beginnen (to set off)