Meanings
nounmildew (countable and uncountable, plural mildews)
plural mildews
- countableuncountablebiologyA growth of minute powdery or webby fungi, whitish or of different colors, found on various diseased or decaying substances.
verbmildew (third-person singular simple present mildews, present participle mildewing, simple past and past participle mildewed)
present singular third person mildews · participle present mildewing · participle past mildewed · past mildewed
- transitiveTo taint with mildew.
Hee giues the Web and the Pin, ſquints the eye, and makes the Hare‐lippe; Mildewes the white Wheate, and hurts the poore Creature of earth.
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 298, column 1 - intransitiveTo become tainted with mildew.
His bald purplish head now looked for all the world like a mildewed skull.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Spouter-Inn”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 24
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*mélit
- Proto-Germanic*mili
- Proto-West Germanic*mili
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰewh₂-der.?
- Proto-Germanic*dawwą
- Proto-West Germanic*dauw
- Proto-West Germanic*milidauw
- Old Englishmildēaw
- Middle Englishmyldew
- Englishmildew
From Middle English myldew, from Old English mildēaw, meledēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *milidauw, from *mili (“honey”) + *dauw (“dew”). Compare West Frisian moaldau, Dutch meeldauw, German Mehltau. More at dew.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans skimmel
- skimmelgrowth of minute fungi
Ancient Greek ἐρυσίβη
- ἐρυσίβη (erusíbē)growth of minute fungi
Arabic تَعَفُّن, عُفُونَة
- تَعَفُّن (taʕaffun)growth of minute fungi
- عُفُونَة (ʕufūna)growth of minute fungi
Bulgarian мана
- мана (mana)growth of minute fungi
Catalan míldiu
- míldiugrowth of minute fungi
Chinese Mandarin 霉菌, 霉
- 霉菌 (méijūn)growth of minute fungi
- 霉 (méi)growth of minute fungi
Czech plíseň, zplesnivět
- plíseňgrowth of minute fungi
- zplesnivětto become tainted with mildew
- plesnivětto become tainted with mildew
Danish meldug, mug
- melduggrowth of minute fungi
- muggrowth of minute fungi
Dutch schimmel, meeldauw
- schimmelgrowth of minute fungi
- meeldauwgrowth of minute fungi
- met schimmel bedekkento taint with mildew
- beschimmelento become tainted with mildew
Esperanto melduo
- melduogrowth of minute fungi
Finnish home, homehduttaa
- homegrowth of minute fungi
- homehduttaato taint with mildew
- saada homehtumaanto taint with mildew
- homehtuato become tainted with mildew
French mildiou
- mildiougrowth of minute fungi
German Mehltau, Schimmel
- Mehltaugrowth of minute fungi
- Schimmelgrowth of minute fungi
- schimmelnto taint with mildew
- verschimmelnto taint with mildew
- verschimmelnto become tainted with mildew
- schimmelnto become tainted with mildew
Greek μούχλα
- μούχλα (moúchla)growth of minute fungi
Hawaiian kūkaeloli
- kūkaeloligrowth of minute fungi
Hebrew טַחַב
- טַחַב (takhav)growth of minute fungi
Hindi फफूंदी
- फफूंदी (phaphūndī)growth of minute fungi
Hungarian lisztharmat, üszög
- lisztharmatgrowth of minute fungi
- üszöggrowth of minute fungi
- rozsdagrowth of minute fungi
- peronoszpóragrowth of minute fungi
- penészgrowth of minute fungi
Indonesian kapang, cendawan
- kapanggrowth of minute fungi
- cendawangrowth of minute fungi
Irish caonach liath, coincleach
- caonach liathgrowth of minute fungi
- coincleachgrowth of minute fungi
Italian muffa
- muffagrowth of minute fungi
Japanese 黴, かびる
- 黴 (kabi)growth of minute fungi
- かびる (kabiru)to taint with mildew
Korean 곰팡이
- 곰팡이 (gompang'i)growth of minute fungi
Latin aurūgō, rōbīgō
- aurūgōgrowth of minute fungi
- rōbīgōgrowth of minute fungi
Latvian pelējums
- pelējumsgrowth of minute fungi
Lithuanian miltligė
- miltligėgrowth of minute fungi
Māori kūpā, kāhekaheka
- kūpāgrowth of minute fungi
- kāhekahekagrowth of minute fungi
- hōpurupurugrowth of minute fungi
Polish pleśń, pleśnieć
- pleśńgrowth of minute fungi
- pleśniećto become tainted with mildew
- spleśniećto become tainted with mildew
Portuguese míldio, mofo
- míldiogrowth of minute fungi
- mofogrowth of minute fungi
Romanian mucegai
- mucegaigrowth of minute fungi
Russian пле́сень, ми́лдью
- пле́сень (plésenʹ)growth of minute fungi
- ми́лдью (míldʹju)growth of minute fungi
- плесневе́ть (plesnevétʹ)to become tainted with mildew
- заплесневе́ть (zaplesnevétʹ)to become tainted with mildew
Slovak pleseň
- pleseňgrowth of minute fungi
Spanish moho, mildiu
- mohogrowth of minute fungi
- mildiugrowth of minute fungi
- mildiúgrowth of minute fungi
- mildéugrowth of minute fungi
- mildíugrowth of minute fungi
- mildeugrowth of minute fungi
- mildiogrowth of minute fungi
- añublogrowth of minute fungi
- anublogrowth of minute fungi
- anublarto taint with mildew
- añublar (desus.)to taint with mildew
- anublarseto become tainted with mildew
- añublarse (desus.)to become tainted with mildew
Swedish mjöldagg
- mjöldagggrowth of minute fungi
Tagalog tagulamin
- tagulamingrowth of minute fungi
Turkish küf
- küfgrowth of minute fungi
Ukrainian плі́снява, цвіль
- плі́снява (plísnjava)growth of minute fungi
- цвіль (cvilʹ)growth of minute fungi
- плі́сень (plísenʹ)growth of minute fungi
Vietnamese mốc
- mốcgrowth of minute fungi
Welsh llwydni
- llwydnigrowth of minute fungi
Cite this entry
APA
mildew. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mildew
MLA
“mildew.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mildew. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mildew,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mildew.
Source: mildew on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.