Meanings
moss1
plural mosses
- countableuncountableAny of various small, green, seedless plants growing on the ground or on the surfaces of trees, stones, etc.; now specifically, a plant of the phylum Bryophyta (formerly division Musci).
Another says you should tense your body, look up in the air, and think about cool moss.
1989, Michael Sky, Dancing with the Fire, page 54
present singular third person mosses · participle present mossing · participle past mossed · past mossed
- intransitiveTo become covered with moss.
An oak whose boughs were mossed with age.
- transitiveTo cover (something) with moss.
moss2
plural mosses
- countableslangAmerican footballA spectacular catch made over 1 or multiple defenders, typically a jump ball.
Bro, that moss was insane!
present singular third person mosses · participle present mossing · participle past mossed · past mossed
- intransitiveslangtransitiveAmerican footballTo make a spectacular catch over 1 or multiple defenders.
You just got mossed!
moss3
present singular third person mosses · participle present mossing · participle past mossed · past mossed
Moss4
- A surname.
- A village and civil parish (served by Moss and District Parish Council) in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE5914).
- A coastal town and municipality in Viken county, Norway.
- A number of places in the United States:
- Former name of Moss Landing, California.
- A former community in Gilmer County, West Virginia.
MOSS5
- abbreviationacronympluralplural onlycomputingAcronym of MIME Object Security Services.
- abbreviationacronymcomputingAcronym of Map Overlay and Statistical System.
- abbreviationacronymcomputingAcronym of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.
- abbreviationacronymbusinessAcronym of Market Oriented Sector Selective talks.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo relax, chill out.
Origin
moss · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*mews-
- Proto-Germanic*musą
- Proto-West Germanic*mos
- Old Englishmos
- Middle Englishmos
- Englishmoss
From Middle English mos, from Old English mos (“bog, marsh, moss”), from Proto-West Germanic *mos, from Proto-Germanic *musą (“bog, moss”), from Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“moss”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian möösk (“moss”), Saterland Frisian Moas (“moss”), West Frisian moas (“moss”), Alemannic German Mies (“moss”), Dutch mos (“moss; lichen; marsh, swamp”), German and Luxembourgish Moos (“moss”), Low German Moss (“moss”), Danish mos (“moss”), mose (“bog; moor”), Faroese and Icelandic mosi (“moss”), Norwegian Bokmål mose (“moss”), Norwegian Nynorsk mose, Swedish mossa, mosse (“raised bog”); also Latin muscus (“moss”), Bulgarian мъх (măh, “moss”), Czech and Polish mech (“moss”), Macedonian мов (mov, “moss”), Russian and Ukrainian мох (mox, “moss”), Serbo-Croatian ма̀ховина, màhovina (“moss”), Slovak mach (“moss”), Slovene mah (“moss; raised bog; marsh; velvet; down, fluff”), Armenian մամուռ (mamuṙ, “moss”). Doublet of mousse.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →moss · noun, verb
Named after Randy Moss, American football wide receiver known for making spectacular catches over defenders.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βρύον
- βρύον (brúon)plants of the division Bryophyta
Arabic أُشْنَة, طُحْلُب
- أُشْنَة (ʔušna)plants of the division Bryophyta
- طُحْلُب (ṭuḥlub)plants of the division Bryophyta
Basque goroldio
- goroldioplants of the division Bryophyta
Bengali শৈবাল
- শৈবাল (śōibal)plants of the division Bryophyta
Bulgarian мъх
- мъх (măh)plants of the division Bryophyta
Catalan molsa
- molsaplants of the division Bryophyta
Chinese Mandarin 青苔, 苔蘚 /苔藓
- 青苔 (qīngtái)plants of the division Bryophyta
- 苔蘚 /苔藓 (táixiǎn)plants of the division Bryophyta
- 苔 (tāi)a kind or species of such plants
- 蘚 /藓 (xiǎn)a kind or species of such plants
Czech mech
- mechplants of the division Bryophyta
Danish mos
- mosplants of the division Bryophyta
Dutch mos, mos
- mosplants of the division Bryophyta
- mosa kind or species of such plants
Esperanto musko, musko
- muskoplants of the division Bryophyta
- muskoa kind or species of such plants
Estonian sammal, samblik
- sammalplants of the division Bryophyta
- samblika kind or species of such plants
- sammaldumato become covered with moss
Finnish sammal, sammalikko
- sammalplants of the division Bryophyta
- sammalikkoa kind or species of such plants
- sammaloituato become covered with moss
French mousse, mousse
- mousseplants of the division Bryophyta
- moussea kind or species of such plants
German Moos, Moos
- Moosplants of the division Bryophyta
- Moosa kind or species of such plants
- bemoosento become covered with moss
- bemoosencover (something) with moss
Greek βρύο, μούσκλο
- βρύο (vrýo)plants of the division Bryophyta
- μούσκλο (moúsklo)plants of the division Bryophyta
- βρύα (vrýa)a kind or species of such plants
Hawaiian limu
- limuplants of the division Bryophyta
Hebrew טְחָב
- טְחָב (tkháv)plants of the division Bryophyta
Hindi काई, हरिता
- काई (kāī)plants of the division Bryophyta
- हरिता (haritā)plants of the division Bryophyta
Hungarian moha
- mohaplants of the division Bryophyta
Icelandic mosi
- mosiplants of the division Bryophyta
Indonesian lumut
- lumutplants of the division Bryophyta
Irish caonach
- caonachplants of the division Bryophyta
Italian muschio, musco
- muschioplants of the division Bryophyta
- muscoplants of the division Bryophyta
- muschioa kind or species of such plants
- muscoa kind or species of such plants
Japanese 苔, コケ
- 苔 (koke)plants of the division Bryophyta
- コケ (koke)plants of the division Bryophyta
- 蘚苔 (sentai)plants of the division Bryophyta
Korean 이끼
- 이끼 (ikki)plants of the division Bryophyta
Latin muscus
- muscusplants of the division Bryophyta
Latvian sūnas, sūna
- sūnasplants of the division Bryophyta
- sūnaplants of the division Bryophyta
Lithuanian samanos
- samanosplants of the division Bryophyta
Malay lumut
- lumutplants of the division Bryophyta
Māori rimu, pūkohukohu
- rimuplants of the division Bryophyta
- pūkohukohuplants of the division Bryophyta
Norwegian Bokmål mose
- moseplants of the division Bryophyta
Persian خزه
- خزه (xaze)plants of the division Bryophyta
Polish mech
- mechplants of the division Bryophyta
Portuguese musgo, musgo
- musgoplants of the division Bryophyta
- musgoa kind or species of such plants
Romanian mușchi
- mușchiplants of the division Bryophyta
Russian мох
- мох (mox)plants of the division Bryophyta
Scottish Gaelic còinneach
- còinneachplants of the division Bryophyta
Slovak mach
- machplants of the division Bryophyta
Spanish musgo, musgo
- musgoplants of the division Bryophyta
- musgoa kind or species of such plants
Swedish mossa, mossa
- mossaplants of the division Bryophyta
- mossaa kind or species of such plants
Tagalog lumot
- lumotplants of the division Bryophyta
Thai มอสส์
- มอสส์ (mɔ́ɔt)plants of the division Bryophyta
Turkish yosun
- yosunplants of the division Bryophyta
Ukrainian мох, мох
- мох (mox)plants of the division Bryophyta
- мох (mox)a kind or species of such plants
Urdu کائی
- کائی (kā'ī)plants of the division Bryophyta
Vietnamese rêu
- rêuplants of the division Bryophyta
Welsh mwsogl
- mwsoglplants of the division Bryophyta
Yiddish מאָך
- מאָך (mokh)plants of the division Bryophyta
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with moss
Cite this entry
moss. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moss
“moss.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moss. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “moss,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moss.
Source: moss on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.