Meanings
moult1
present singular third person moults · participle present moulting · participle past moulted · past moulted · alternative US molt
- intransitiveTo undergo the process of shedding or losing a covering of hair or fur, feathers, skin, horns, etc, and replacing it with a fresh one; to change by moulting.
Birds moult periodically.
5 more examples
[…] molted into a new suit so that he could fly.
1899, The Chautauquan, volume 29, page 134[…]; but each bird, Red or Black, male or female, has invariably moulted true to colour - a Black has never moulted into a Red.
1906, The Avicultural Magazine, volume 4, page 80The engorged nymphae were collected on the 2nd August, 1910, and moulted into adults on the 19th September, 1910. Later, they were placed on cattle […]
1911, Report of the Director of Veterinary Research, page 212[…] One of the few Streak-headed Mannikins which I kept moulted into its second-year plumage with a pair of white feathers on its breast and a Scaly-breasted Munia grew several white primaries, as did a White-spotted Mannikin.
2010, Robin Restall, Munias and Mannikins, page 19[…] to grow and molt into a new version of herself.
2020, Kurone Kanzaki, Demon Lord, Retry! Volume 4Synonyms: shed
- transitiveTo shed in such a manner.
Turtle-droves […] moulted their feathers.
1929, Percy MacKaye, Claude Merton Wise, The Sphinx: A Comedy in One Act, page 35
Moult2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.
nounThe skin or feathers cast off during the process of moulting.
verbTo undergo the process of shedding or losing a covering of hair or fur, feathers, skin, horns, etc, and replacing it with a fresh one; to change by moulting.
More synonyms by meaning
nounperiodic shedding of the cuticle in arthropods or the outer skin in reptiles
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
- Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
- Latinmūtō
- Old English*mutian
- Middle Englishmouten
- Englishmoult
From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (attested in bemutian, “to exchange for”), from Latin mūtō (“to (re)move, change, vary, mutate, exchange, abandon”). Doublet of mute and mutate. The unetymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- as in fault and vault; compare solder, which in contrast has an etymological ⟨l⟩ (from Latin solidāre, “to make solid“) but was historically pronounced without that grapheme's sound.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian сменям си перата
- сменям си перата (smenjam si perata)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Chinese Mandarin 換毛 /换毛, 換羽 /换羽
- 換毛 /换毛 (huànmáo)process
- 換羽 /换羽 (huànyǔ)process
- 退毛 (tuìmáo)process
- 換毛 /换毛 (huànmáo)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- 換羽 /换羽 (huànyǔ)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- 蛻皮 /蜕皮 (tuìpí)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Czech línání, pelichání
- línáníprocess
- pelicháníprocess
- svlékáníprocess
- přepeřeníprocess
- svlečkaskin or feathers cast off
- línatto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- pelichatto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- přesrstit seto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- přepeřitto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- svlékat seto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- svlékat (kůži, krunýř)to shed in such a manner (transitive form)
- shazovat (paroží, srst)to shed in such a manner (transitive form)
Dutch rui, ruien
- ruiprocess
- ruiento shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- muitento shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- vervellento shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- verharento shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Finnish karvanlähtö, sulkasato
- karvanlähtöprocess
- sulkasatoprocess
- nahanluontiprocess
- luotu nahkaskin or feathers cast off
- luoda nahkansato shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- pudottaa höyhenensäto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
French mue, mue
- mueprocess
- mueskin or feathers cast off
- muerto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- dumerto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- muerto shed in such a manner (transitive form)
German Mauser, Häutung
- Mauserprocess
- Häutungprocess
- (sich) mausern (feathers)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- (sich) häuten (skin)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Hebrew נֶשֶׁל
- נֶשֶׁל (néshel)skin or feathers cast off
Hungarian vedlés, tollhullatás
- vedlésprocess
- tollhullatásprocess
- vedlikto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Icelandic hamskipti, fjaðrafellir
- hamskiptiskin or feathers cast off
- fjaðrafellirskin or feathers cast off
- hleypa hömumto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- fella fjaðrirto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- fara úr hárumto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Indonesian pergantian kulit
- pergantian kulitprocess
Italian muta, muda
- mutaprocess
- mudaprocess
- mutareto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- fare la mutato shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Japanese 抜け替わり, 蛻
- 抜け替わり (nukekawari)process
- 蛻 (monuke, nukegara)skin or feathers cast off
- 抜け替わる (nukekawaru)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- 生え変わる (haekawaru)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Korean 허물을 벗다
- 허물을 벗다 (heomureul beotda)process
Māori turukitanga, turuki
- turukitangaprocess
- turukito shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- whakamāunuto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Portuguese muda, mudar
- mudaprocess
- mudarto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Romanian năpârlire, năpârli
- năpârlireprocess
- năpârlito shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Russian ли́нька, линя́ть
- ли́нька (línʹka)process
- линя́ть (linjátʹ)to shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Spanish muda, mudamiento (disused)
- mudaprocess
- mudamiento (disused)process
- pelecharto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- mudarto shed in such a manner (transitive form)
- perderto shed in such a manner (transitive form)
- caérseleto shed in such a manner (transitive form)
- desprenderto shed in such a manner (transitive form)
- echarto shed in such a manner (transitive form)
Swedish ömsning, ruggning
- ömsningprocess
- ruggningprocess
- ömsato shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- ruggato shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- ömsato shed in such a manner (transitive form)
- ruggato shed in such a manner (transitive form)
Turkish tüy dökmek, deri değiştirmek
- tüy dökmekto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- deri değiştirmekto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- tülemekto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
- gömlek değiştirmekto shed hair, feathers, skin, horns etc., as an animal
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with moult
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
moult. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moult
“moult.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moult. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “moult,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moult.
Source: moult on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.