mildew
noun
- fungus habit
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L332205 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈmɪl.djuː/ / /ˈmɪl.d(j)u/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English myldew, from Old English meledēaw, mildēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *milidauw, from *mili (“honey”) + *dauw (“dew”). Compare West Frisian moaldau, Dutch meeldauw, German Mehltau. More at dew.
- A growth of minute powdery or webby fungi, whitish or of different colors, found on various diseased or decaying substances.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English myldew, from Old English meledēaw, mildēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *milidauw, from *mili (“honey”) + *dauw (“dew”). Compare West Frisian moaldau, Dutch meeldauw, German Mehltau. More at dew.
- To 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.”
- To become tainted with mildew.
“His bald purplish head now looked for all the world like a mildewed skull.”