- mood (2)
- "grammatical form indicating the function of a verb," 1569, an alteration of mode (1), but the grammatical and musical (1597) usages of it influenced the meaning of mood (1) in phrases such as light-hearted mood.
- mood (1)
- "emotional condition, frame of mind," O.E. mod "heart, frame of mind, spirit, courage," from P.Gmc. *motha- (cf. O.Fris. mod "intellect, mind, courage," O.N. moðr "wrath, anger," M.Du. moet, Du. moed, O.H.G. muot, Ger. Mut "courage," Goth. moþs "courage, anger"), of unknown origin. A much more vigorous word in Anglo-Saxon than currently, and used widely in compounds (e.g. modcræftig "intelligent," modful "proud"). To be in the mood "willing (to do something)" is from 1580s. First record of mood swings is from 1942.
- moody
- O.E. modig "brave, proud, high-spirited;" meaning "subject to gloomy spells" is first recorded 1590s (via a M.E. sense of "angry"); see mood (1).
- subjunctive
- 1530, "mood employed to denote an action or state as conceived and not as a fact," from L.L. subjunctivus "serving to join, connecting," from pp. stem of subjungere "to append, add at the end, place under," from sub "under" + jungere "to join" (see jugular). The L. modus subjunctivus probably is a grammarians' loan-translation of Gk. hypotaktike enklisis "subordinated," so called because the Gk. subjunctive mood is used almost exclusively in subordinate clauses.
- disposed
- mid-14c., “inclined, in the mood,” pp. adj. from dispose. Meaning “in a certain condition” is late 14c., “arranged” is 15c.
- atmospheric
- 1783, from atmosphere. In a sense of "creating a mood or mental environment" it is from 1908. Atmospherics "disturbances in wireless communication" is from 1905.
- raga
- 1788, from Skt. raga-s "harmony, melody, mode in music," lit. "color, mood," related to rajyati "it is dyed."
- upbeat (adj.)
- "with a positive mood," 1947, apparently from the musical noun upbeat (1869), referring to the beat of a bar at which the conductor's baton is in a raised position; the "optimistic" sense apparently for no other reason than that it sounds like a happy word (the musical upbeat is no more inherently "positive" than any other beat).
- biliary
- "pertaining to bile," 1731, from Fr. biliaire, from bile (see bile). Meaning "bilious in mood or temperament" is recorded from 1837.
- proud
- late O.E. prud, prute, probably from O.Fr. prud, oblique case of adj. prouz "brave, valiant" (11c.), from L.L. prode "advantageous, profitable" (c.200), from L. prodesse "be useful," from pro- "before" + esse "to be." The sense of "have a high opinion of oneself," not in O.Fr., may reflect the Anglo-Saxons' opinion of the Norman knights who called themselves "proud." O.N. pruðr, probably from the same O.Fr. source, had only the sense "brave, gallant, magnificent, stately" (cf. Icel. pruður, M.Swed. prudh, M.Da. prud). Likewise a group of "pride" words in the Romance languages -- e.g. Fr. orgueil, It. orgoglio, Sp. orgullo -- are borrowings from Gmc., where they had positive senses (cf. O.H.G. urgol "distinguished"). Most I.E. languages use the same word for "proud" in its good and bad senses, but in many the bad sense seems to be the earlier one. The usual way to form the word is with some compound of words for "over" or "high" and words for "heart," "mood," "thought," or "appearance;" e.g. Gk. hyperephanos, lit. "over-appearing;" Goth. hauhþuhts, lit. "high-conscience." O.E. had ofermodig "over-moody" ("mood" in Anglo-Saxon was a much more potent word than presently) and heahheort "high-heart." Words for "proud" in other I.E. languages sometimes reflect a physical sense of being swollen or puffed up; cf. Welsh balch, prob. from a root meaning "to swell," and Modern Gk. kamari, from ancient Gk. kamarou "furnish with a vault or arched cover," with a sense evolution via "make an arch," to "puff out the chest," to "be puffed up" (cf. Eng. slang chesty).
- optative
- grammatical mood expressing wish or desire, 1530, from M.Fr. optatif (15c.), from L.L. optativus, from L. optatus, pp. of optare (see option).
- vein
- c.1300, from O.Fr. veine, from L. vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein of metal, a person's natural ability or interest," of unknown origin. The mining sense is attested in English from late 14c. Figurative sense of "strain or intermixture" (of some quality) is recorded from 1560s; that of "a humor or mood, natural tendency" is first recorded 1570s.
- solace (n.)
- "comfort, consolation," late 13c., from O.Fr. solas, from L. solacium, from solatus, pp. of solari "to console, soothe," from PIE base *sel- "of good mood, to favor" (cf. Gk. hilaros "merry," O.E. gesælig "happy;" see silly). The verb is recorded from c.1300.
- hug
- 1567, hugge "to embrace," perhaps from O.N. hugga "to comfort," from hugr "courage, mood," from P.Gmc. *hugjan, related to O.E. hycgan "to think, consider," Goth. hugs "mind, soul, thought." Other have noted the similarity in some senses to Ger. hegen "to foster, cherish," originally "to enclose with a hedge." The noun was originally (1617) a hold in wrestling.
- mode (1)
- "manner," late 14c., "kind of musical scale," from L. modus "measure, rhythm, song, manner" (in L.L. also "mood" in grammar and logic), from PIE base *med-/*met- "to measure, limit, consider, advise, take appropriate measures" (cf. L. meditari "to think or reflect upon, consider," mederi "to look after, heal, cure;" O.E. metan "to measure out," Gk. medein "to rule"). Meaning "manner in which a thing is done" first recorded 1667.
- pall (n.)
- O.E. pæll "rich cloth, cloak, altar cloth," from L. pallium "cloak, covering," in Tertullian, the garment worn by Christians instead of the Roman toga; related to pallo "robe, cloak," palla "long upper garment of Roman women," perhaps from the root of pellis "skin." Notion of "cloth spread over a coffin" (c.1440) led to fig. sense of "dark, gloomy mood" (1742).
- lunatic (adj.)
- late 13c., "affected with periodic insanity, dependent on the changes of the moon," from O.Fr. lunatique "insane," from L. lunaticus "moon-struck," from luna "moon" (see luna). Cf. O.E. monseoc "lunatic," lit. "moon-sick;" M.H.G. lune "humor, temper, mood, whim, fancy" (Ger. Laune), from L. luna. Cf. also N.T. Gk. seleniazomai "be epileptic," from selene "moon." The noun meaning "lunatic person" is first recorded late 14c. Lunatic fringe (1913) was apparently coined by U.S. politician Theodore Roosevelt. Lunatic soup (1933) was Australian slang for "alcoholic drink."
- wrong (adj.)
- late O.E., "twisted, crooked, wry," from O.N. rangr, earlier *wrangr "crooked, wry, wrong," from P.Gmc. *wrangaz (cf. Dan. vrang "crooked, wrong," M.Du. wranc, Du. wrang "sour, bitter," lit. "that which distorts the mouth"), from PIE *wrengh- "to turn" (see wring). Sense of "not right, bad, immoral, unjust" developed by c.1300. Wrong thus is etymologically a negative of right (from L. rectus, lit. "straight"). L. pravus was lit. "crooked," but most commonly "wrong, bad;" and other words for "crooked" also have meant "wrong" in It. and Slav. Cf. also Fr. tort "wrong, injustice," from L. tortus "twisted." Wrong-headed first recorded 1732. To get up on the wrong side (of the bed) "be in a bad mood" is recorded from 1801.
- cheer
- early 13c., from Anglo-Norm. chere "the face," from O.Fr. chiere, from L.L. cara "face," from Gk. kara "head," from PIE base *ker- "head." Already by M.E. meaning had extended metaphorically to "mood, demeanor, mental condition" as reflected in the face. Could be in a good or bad sense ("The feend ... beguiled her with treacherye, and brought her into a dreerye cheere," "Merline," c.1500), but positive sense has predominated since c.1400. Meaning "shout of encouragement" first recorded 1720, perhaps nautical slang (earlier "to encourage by words or deeds," early 15c.). Cheer up (intrans.) first attested 1670s. Cheers as a salute or toast when taking a drink is British, 1919. The old English greeting what cheer was picked up by Algonquian Indians of southern New England from the Puritans and spread in Indian languages as far as Canada.
- humor
- 1340, "fluid or juice of an animal or plant," from Anglo-Norm. humour, from O.Fr. humor, from L. umor "body fluid" (also humor, by false assoc. with humus "earth"), related to umere "be wet, moist," and to uvescere "become wet." In ancient and medieval physiology, "any of the four body fluids" (blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy or black bile) whose relative proportions were thought to determine state of mind. This led to a sense of "mood, temporary state of mind" (first recorded 1525); the sense of "amusing quality, funniness" is first recorded 1682, probably via sense of "whim, caprice" (1565), which also produced the verb sense of "indulge," first attested 1588. "The pronunciation of the initial h is only of recent date, and is sometimes omitted ...." [OED] Humorous in the modern sense is first recorded 1705. For types of humor, see the useful table below, from H.W. Fowler ["Modern English Usage," 1926].
device HUMOR WIT SATIRE SARCASM INVECTIVE IRONY CYNICISM SARDONIC motive/aim discovery throwing light amendment inflicting pain discredit exclusiveness self-justification self-relief province human nature words & ideas morals & manners faults & foibles misconduct statement of facts morals adversity method/means observation surprise accentuation inversion direct statement mystification exposure of nakedness pessimism audience the sympathetic the intelligent the self-satisfied victim & bystander the public an inner circle the respectable the self