moult

• molt (US)

From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute and mutate. Un-etymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- (compare fault, vault and solder with correctly restored etymological ⟨l⟩).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /moʊlt/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɒlt/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /məʊlt/
• Rhymes: -əʊlt

moult (plural moults)

1. The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.

   Synonyms: ecdysis, moulting

   Some birds change colour during their winter moult.

2. The skin or feathers cast off during the process of moulting.

   Synonym: exuvia

• catastrophic moult

moult (third-person singular simple present moults, present participle moulting, simple past and past participle moulted)

1. (intransitive) To shed or lose a covering of hair or fur, feathers, skin, horns, etc, and replace it with a fresh one.

   Synonyms: shed, slough

2. (transitive) To shed in such a manner.

• 
  A cicada moulting
• 
  A cockroach moulting
• 
  A cicada molting
• A snake moulting

• moulting on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Inherited from Middle French moult, from Old French mut (with a silent ⟨l⟩ inserted per the Latin etymon), from earlier Old French mult~molt, from Latin multus, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”, past passive participle). After having largely disappeared from the spoken language, where it was replaced by beaucoup, the term is now occasionally heard again, often with a spelling-pronunciation.

• (traditional) IPA^(key): /mu/, (liaison) /mu.t‿/
• (spelling pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mult/, /mul/

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• Audio

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• Audio (CAN)

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• Homophones: mou, mous

moult (feminine moulte, masculine plural moults, feminine plural moultes)

1. (formerly archaic or regional) many; a lot of

   Synonym: beaucoup

moult

1. (archaic or regional) much; a lot

Used both as invariable and variable adjective:

Après moult hésitations, il prit cette décision. (invariable)

After much hesitation he made this decision.

Et, pour finir, moulte chose
Blanche et noire, effet et cause […] (variable)[1]

And, to finish, many a thing
White and black, effect and cause […]

• “moult”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• mulot

• mlt (manuscript abbreviation)

From Old French molt, mout, from Latin multus.

moult

1. much; a lot

• French: moult