moustache

English

Man with moustache

Alternative forms

• moustaches
• mustache, mustaches

Etymology

Used in English since the 16th century. Via French from Italian mostaccio, from Byzantine Greek μουστάκιον (moustákion), diminutive of (Doric) Ancient Greek μύσταξ (mústaks, “upper lip”), from Proto-Indo-European *mendʰ- (“to chew”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /məˈstɑːʃ/, Rhymes: -ɑːʃ
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌstæʃ/, /məˈstæʃ/, Rhymes: -æʃ

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /məˈstæʃ/, Rhymes: -æʃ
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /məˈstɐːʃ/, Rhymes: -ɐːʃ

Noun

moustache (plural moustaches)

1. A growth of facial hair between the nose and the upper lip.
   • 1907, Robert W. Chambers, chapter IX, The Younger Set:

     “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.

   For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.

Usage notes

The plural forms moustaches and mustaches were formerly popular equivalent terms for the facial hair on the lip of one man, but these uses are now archaic with the singular now preferred.

Derived terms

• Fu Manchu moustache
• handlebar moustache
• molestache
• philtrum moustache
• stache, 'stache
• tache, 'tache
• toothbrush moustache

Translations

hair on upper lip

• Abkhaz: аԥаҵа (āpāc̣ā)
• Albanian: mustaqe
• Arabic: شارِب m (šārib)

  Egyptian Arabic: شنب m (šanab)

• Aragonese: mostaixa f
• Aramaic: ܦܣܡܐ
• Armenian: բեղ (beł)
• Aromanian: mustatsã f
• Asturian: bigote (ast) m
• Avar: михъал (miq̄al)
• Azeri: bığ (az)
• Banjarese: sasingut
• Basque: bibote
• Belarusian: вусы́ pl (vusý)
• Bengali: গোঁফ (gomph)
• Breton: mourroù (br)
• Bulgarian: муста́к (bg) m (musták)
• Burmese: ကျင်စွယ် (my) (kyangcwai)
• Catalan: bigoti (ca), mostatxo m
• Chechen: мекхаш (mieqaš), мекхаш pl (mieqaš)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鬍子 (zh), 胡子 (zh) (húzi), 髭 (zh) (zī), 八字鬍 (zh) (bāzìhú)

• Czech: knír m
• Danish: overskæg (da) n
• Dhivehi: މަތިމަސް (dv) (matimas)
• Dutch: snor (nl) f
• Esperanto: lipharo (eo)
• Estonian: vurrud pl, vuntsid
• Finnish: viikset (fi) pl, viiksi- (fi) (in compounds)
• French: moustache (fr) f, bacchante (fr) f, (slang) charmeuses (fr) f pl
• Galician: bigote (gl) m, mostacho m
• Georgian: ულვაში (ulvaši), ულვაშები (ulvašebi)
• German: Schnurrbart (de) m, Oberlippenbart (de) m
• Greek: μουστάκι (el) n (moustáki)
• Guaraní: vigóte
• Gujarati: મુછ (gu)
• Haitian Creole: moustach
• Hebrew: שָׂפָם (he) m (safam)
• Hindi: मूँछ f (mūñch), मूछ f (mūch)
• Hungarian: bajusz (hu)
• Icelandic: yfirvaraskegg n, yfirskegg n, (slang) motta (is) f
• Indonesian: kumis (id)
• Irish: croiméal m
• Isthmus Zapotec: guicha ruaa
• Italian: baffi (it) m pl
• Japanese: 口ひげ (くちひげ, kuchihige), 口髭 (くちひげ, kuchihige)
• Javanese: brengos
• Kazakh: мұрт (murt)
• Khmer: ពុកមាត់ (km) (puk moat)
• Korean: 콧수염 (ko) (kotsuyeom)
• Kurdish: simbêl (ku)
• Kyrgyz: мурут (ky) (murut)
• Lak: ссирссилтту (s̄irs̄ilt̄u)
• Lao: ມັດສຸ (mat su) (moustache or beard)
• Latin: (neologism) mystax m

• Latvian: ūsas (lv) f pl
• Lithuanian: ūsai m pl
• Lombard: barbis m
• Macedonian: му́стаќ m (mústaḱ), му́стаќи pl (mústaḱi)
• Malay: misai, kumis
• Malayalam: മീശ (ml) (mīśa)
• Maltese: mustaċċi m
• Maori: hurungutu
• Marathi: मिशी (miśī)
• Mongolian: живэр сахал (živer sahal)
• Navajo: dághá
• Norwegian: bart (no) m, mustasje m
• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Ossetian: рихитæ (rixitæ)
• Pashto: برېت (ps) m pl (bret)
• Persian: بروت (fa) (borut)
• Polish: wąsy m pl
• Portuguese: bigode (pt) m
• Romanian: mustață (ro) f
• Russian: ус (ru) m (us), (usually plural) усы́ (ru) m pl (usý)
• Sanskrit: श्मश्रु (śmaśru)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: mustatzus

  Logudorese Sardinian: mustatzus

• Scots: mouser, moutash
• Scottish Gaelic: mustais f, stais f, balt m, feusag-bheòil f, ròibeag f, réibean m, ròibean m, caisean-feusaig m
• Serbo-Croatian: brk (sh) m, brkovi (sh) m pl, nausnice f pl, брк m, бркови m pl, науснице f pl
• Sicilian: mustazzu (scn) m, mustazzi (scn) m pl, baffi (scn) m pl
• Slovak: fúzy pl
• Slovene: brki (sl) m pl
• Somali: shaarbo
• Spanish: bigote (es) m, mostacho (es) m
• Swahili: masharubu pl
• Swedish: mustasch (sv) c
• Tagalog: misay, bigote (tl)
• Tajik: мӯйлаб (müylab), бурут (burut)
• Tamil: மீசை (ta) (mīcai)
• Telugu: మీసం (te) (mīsaṃ)
• Thai: มัสสุ (mátsòo), ทาฐิกะ (taatìgà)
• Tibetan: ཁ་སྤུ (kha spu), སྨ་ར (sma ra)
• Turkish: bıyık (tr)
• Turkmen: murt
• Tuvan: сал (sal)
• Ukrainian: ву́са pl (vúsa), ву́си pl (vúsy)
• Urdu: مونچھ f (mūñch)
• Uzbek: moʻylab
• Veps: habinod
• Vietnamese: râu mép (vi)
• Volapük: mustag
• Walloon: moustatche (wa)
• White Hmong: hwj-txwv
• Yiddish: וואָנצעס (vontses)
• Zazaki: zımbêli

See also

• beard
• sideburn, sideboard
• whisker

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French

Etymology

From Neapolitan mustaccio (compare Italian mostaccio), itself, possibly through an intermediate Late Latin *mustaceum, from Byzantine Greek μουστάκιον (moustákion), from Ancient Greek μύσταξ (mústaks).

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /mus.taʃ/

Noun

moustache f (plural moustaches)

1. moustache, mustache

See also

• barbe f

Anagrams

• mouchâtes
• touchâmes

External links

• “moustache” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Norman

Etymology

Borrowing from French moustache.

Noun

moustache f (plural moustaches)

1. (Jersey) moustache