English word origin

Etymology of moue

Borrowed from French moue, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”). Doublet of mow ("grimace").

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

A pout, especially as expressing mock-annoyance or flirtatiousness.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from French moue, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”). Doublet of mow ("grimace").

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionmouefr
Derivation mentionmoefro
Doublet mentionmowen

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "moue"
      },
      "expansion": "French moue"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "moe",
        "4": "",
        "5": "grimace"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French moe (“grimace”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frk",
        "3": "*mauwu",
        "4": "*mauwa",
        "t": "pout, protruding lip"
      },
      "expansion": "Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "mow"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of mow"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "moue",
      "moue#French"
    ],
    [
      "moe",
      "moe#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "*mauwa",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/mauwu"
    ],
    [
      "mow",
      "mow#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A pout, especially as expressing mock-annoyance or flirtatiousness."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "1fcc9300bc41206b520978e062a46ea538e4a5d97a69b049c89665bb3f4bedaa",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2ef1e6cebeff1d731ec86c62cc2390ef5e5d889cb01a03d7a8320c6fbc3cb14c",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 560021
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for moue →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bW91ZQ