mildew

English

Etymology

From Middle English mildewe, from Old English meledēaw, mildēaw, from Proto-Germanic *milidawwaz (compound of *mili (“honey”) + *dawwō (“dew”)). Compare West Frisian moaldau, Dutch meeldauw, German Mehltau. More at dew.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪl.djuː/
• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪl.d(j)u/

Noun

mildew (uncountable)

1. (phytopathology) A growth of minute powdery or webby fungi, whitish or of different colors, found on various diseased or decaying substances.

Translations

growth of minute fungi

• Albanian: myk (sq) m
• Arabic: تَعَفُّن m (taʕaffun), عُفُونَة f (ʕufūna)
• Armenian: բորբոս (hy) (borbos)
• Azerbaijani: kif
• Belarusian: цвіль f (cvilʹ), пле́сня f (pljésnja), бро́сня f (brósnja)
• Bulgarian: пле́сен (bg) f (plésen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 霉菌 (zh) (méijūn), 霉 (zh) (méi)

• Czech: plíseň (cs) f
• Danish: meldug (da), mug n or c
• Dutch: schimmel (nl) m, meeldauw (nl) m
• Finnish: home (fi)
• French: mildiou (fr) m
• Georgian: ობი (obi)
• German: Mehltau (de) m, Schimmel (de) m
• Greek: μούχλα (el) f (moúchla)

  Ancient: ἐρυσίβη f (erusíbē)

• Hebrew: טַחַב (he) m (takhav)
• Hindi: फफूंदी (phaphūndī)
• Hungarian: lisztharmat (hu)
• Hunsrik: Milldau m
• Irish: caonach liath m, coincleach f
• Italian: muffa (it) f
• Japanese: 黴 (ja) (かび, kabi)
• Kazakh: зай (zai), зең (zeñ)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 곰팡이 (gompang'i)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kyrgyz: көк дат (kök dat)
• Latin: aurūgō f, rōbīgō f
• Latvian: pelējums m
• Lithuanian: miltligė f
• Macedonian: му́вла f (múvla)
• Maori: kūpā, kāhekaheka, hōpurupuru
• Mongolian: хөгц (mn) (xögc)
• Polish: pleśń (pl) f
• Portuguese: míldio m, mofo (pt) m
• Romanian: mucegai (ro)
• Russian: пле́сень (ru) f (plésenʹ), ми́лдью (ru) f (míldʹju)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: плесан f, плијесан f, буђ m or f

  Roman: plesan (sh) f, plijesan (sh) f, buđ (sh) m or f

• Slovak: pleseň (sk) f
• Slovene: plesen f
• Spanish: moho (es) m, mildiu
• Swedish: mjöldagg (sv)
• Tagalog: tagulamin
• Tajik: мағор (maġor), пӯпанак (püpanak), карра (karra)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: ཧམ་འབུ (ham 'bu)
• Turkish: küf (tr)
• Ukrainian: плі́снява (plísnjava), цвіль (uk) f (cvilʹ), плі́сень (uk) f (plísenʹ)
• Uzbek: mogʻor (uz), poʻpanak (uz)
• Vietnamese: mốc (vi)
• West Frisian: skimmel

Verb

mildew (third-person singular simple present mildews, present participle mildewing, simple past and past participle mildewed)

1. (transitive) To taint with mildew.
   • 1605, The Tragedy of King Lear, William Shakespeare, act 3 scene 4

     He […] mildews the white wheat.

2. (intransitive) To become tainted with mildew.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 3

     His bald purplish head now looked for all the world like a mildewed skull.

Translations

to taint with mildew

• Dutch: met meeldauw bedekken
• Finnish: homehduttaa (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: schimmeln (de), verschimmeln (de)
• Japanese: かびる (ja) (kabiru)
• Spanish: enmohecer (es)

to become tainted with mildew

• Czech: zplesnivět pf, plesnivět impf
• Dutch: beschimmelen (nl)
• Finnish: homehtua (fi), saada homehtumaan
• German: verschimmeln (de), schimmeln (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: pleśnieć impf
• Russian: плесневе́ть (ru) impf (plesnevétʹ), заплесневе́ть (ru) pf (zaplesnevétʹ)
• Spanish: enmohecer (es)

See also

• mould, mold