moe

See also: Moe, MOE, MoE, moé, mö, -mö, мое, and -moe

English

Etymology 1

From Japanese 萌え (moe, “budding, sprouting”), imperfective or continuative form of 萌える (moeru, “to burst into bud, to sprout”).

Alternative forms

Wikipe-tan, a moe personification of Wikipedia

• moé

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊ.eɪ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊ.eɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊeɪ

Noun

moe (uncountable)

1. (fandom slang) Strong interest in, and especially fetishistic attraction towards, fictional characters in anime, manga, video games, and/or similar media.
   • 2015 December 9, Jankenpopp, “Top 15 kawaii and moe anime girls”, in My Anime List‎^[2]:

     Someone who is pretty or beautiful isn't moe by definition. Moe characters don't always have to be younger girls, but it certainly helps! In fact, moe characters don't even have to be female! As long as they make you feel like you want to hug and protect them, that's enough!

   • 2023 September 5, Trent Murray, “10 Best Anime Like Bocchi The Rock”, in Dual Shockers‎^[3], Carole and Tuesday:

     Despite its moe roots and preference for hijinks, Bocchi The Rock is a loving celebration of rock music and the joys of being in a band.

Derived terms

• figure moe zoku
• moe anthropomorphism

Related terms

• moekko
• moe sangyo
• moetan

Translations

strong interest or attraction towards fictional character

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 萌 (mang⁴)

  Mandarin: 萌 (zh) (méng)

• Japanese: 萌え (ja) (moe)
• Korean: 모에 (ko) (mo'e)

Adjective

moe (comparative more moe or moe-er, superlative most moe or moe-est)

1. (fandom slang) Cute, adorable. (of fictional characters in anime, manga, video games, and/or similar media)

Translations

cute

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 萌 (mang⁴)

  Mandarin: 萌 (zh) (méng)

See also

• kawaii
• aegyo

Etymology 2

Variant forms.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məʊ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ

Adverb

moe

1. Obsolete form of mo.
2. Obsolete form of more.
   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     Sing no more ditties, sing no moe.

   • c. 1572, George Gascoigne, Woodmanship:

     The crafty courtiers with their guileful looks,
     Must needs put some experience in my maw:
     Yet cannot these with many mast'ries moe
     Make me shoot straight at any gainful prick […]

Noun

moe

1. Obsolete form of mow (“wry face, grimace”).
2. Obsolete form of moa.

Verb

moe

1. Obsolete form of moo.
2. Obsolete form of mow (“to make faces”).

Anagrams

• EOM, emo, ome, Emo, OEM, -ome, Meo, 'ome, OME, Eom, Ome

Cypriot Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مُوَيْئة (muwayʔa), a diminutive of ماء (māʔ).

Noun

moe f (plural moyát)

1. water

Related terms

• muvárt

 

References

• Borg, Alexander (2004) A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies; I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 436

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: moe
• Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

From moede with loss of -d-, from Middle Dutch moede (“tired, loath”), from Old Dutch muothi (“tired”), from Proto-West Germanic *mōþī, from Proto-Germanic *mōþaz. Cognate to German müde and Old English mēþe.

Adjective

moe (comparative moeër or moeier, superlative moest)

1. tired, weary
   • 1968, Willem Johan van der Molen & Jan Wit, "Evenals een moede hinde" (psalm 42).

     Evenals een moede hinde / naar het klare water smacht, / schreeuwt mijn ziel om God te vinden / die ik ademloos verwacht.

     Just as a tired doe / yearns for clear water, / my soul cries out to find god / whom I breathlessly expect.

   Synonym: vermoeid

Usage notes

This word is usually used predicatively rather than attributively. If an attributive sense is needed, most people use vermoeid. The forms moeie and moeier are often proscribed. The form moede is mostly formal.

Declension

Declension of moe
uninflected	moe
inflected	moeë
comparative	moeër
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		moe	moeër	het moest het moeste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	moeë	moeëre	moeste
	n. sing.	moe	moeër	moeste
	plural	moeë	moeëre	moeste
definite		moeë	moeëre	moeste
partitive		moes	moeërs	—

Declension of moe
uninflected	moe
inflected	moeie
comparative	moeier
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		moe	moeier	het moest het moeste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	moeie	moeiere	moeste
	n. sing.	moe	moeier	moeste
	plural	moeie	moeiere	moeste
definite		moeie	moeiere	moeste
partitive		moes	moeiers	—

Alternative forms

• moede

Descendants

• Afrikaans: moeg
• Jersey Dutch: mûx, mâ
• Negerhollands: moe, mu

Etymology 2

Shortening of moeder.

Noun

moe f (plural moeken, diminutive moeke n or moetje n)

1. (informal, dialectal) mother

   Synonyms: moeder, mam

Usage notes

More common in Belgium as moeke.

Estonian

Noun

moe

1. genitive singular of mood

Galician

Verb

moe

1. inflection of moer:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Hawaiian

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *mohe (compare Tongan mohe, Maori moe) from Proto-Oceanic (compare Fijian moce). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

moe

1. to sleep
2. to lie down
3. to die
4. to ambush
5. to marry
6. to incubate eggs (of birds)

Noun

moe

1. bed

   Synonyms: moekū, moena

2. dream
3. marriage
4. calmness

See also

• moemoe

Japanese

Romanization

moe

1. Rōmaji transcription of もえ

Lovono

Noun

moe

1. house

References

• Alexandre François, The languages of Vanikoro: three lexicons and one grammar

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *mohe (compare Tongan mohe, Hawaiian moe) from Proto-Oceanic (compare Fijian moce). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

moe

1. to sleep, to nap
2. to dream
3. to marry
4. to die
5. to faint

Noun

moe

1. sleep
2. dream

   Synonym: moemoea

Adjective

moe

1. dormant

See also

• moemoe
• moenga

Further reading

• “moe” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Old French

Etymology

From Frankish *mauwu (“mouth, protruding lip”).

Noun

moe oblique singular, f (oblique plural moes, nominative singular moe, nominative plural moes)

1. mouth

Descendants

• Middle French: moe, moue
  • French: moue

Rapa Nui

Etymology

See here.

Verb

moe

1. sleep
2. lie down

Samoan

Verb

moe

1. sleep

Derived terms

• potumoe

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch moeten.

Verb

moe

1. must
2. have to
3. should

Tahitian

Verb

moe

1. sleep

Usage notes

Archaic; use taʻoto.

Teanu

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *ʀumaq, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ʀumaq, from Proto-Austronesian *ʀumaq.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moe/, /mʷoe/

Noun

moe

1. house

References

• François, Alexandre. 2021. Teanu dictionary (Solomon Islands). Dictionaria 15. 1-1877. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.5653063. – entry moe.
• François, Alexandre. 2021. Online Teanu–English dictionary, with equivalents in Lovono and Tanema. Electronic files. Paris: CNRS. – entry moe.
• Lackey, W.J.. & Boerger, B.H. (2021) “Reexamining the Phonological History of Oceanic's Temotu subgroup”, in Oceanic Linguistics.

Tetum

Adjective

moe

1. ashamed

Noun

moe

1. shame