Mouche
/muːʃ/noun
A small dark beauty mark or patch formerly worn on the face, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Did you know?In fashionable European society, the placement of a mouche could carry suggestive meanings, with some patches associated with flirtation, secrecy, or political allegiance.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mus-
“A mouse or small creature, an ancient root associated with smallness and movement”
Classical Latin
Latin
musca
“A fly or other small buzzing insect”
Late Latin
Latin
musca
“Fly; the word also became associated with a dark spot or mark”
Old French
Old French
mosche
“Fly; later, a dark beauty spot or patch placed on the face”
16th–17th Century
French
mouche
“A decorative facial patch, literally named a “fly” because of its small dark appearance”
18th Century
English
mouche
“A beauty mark or artificial patch worn on the face”
Modern English
English
mouche
“A historical term for a facial beauty spot or patch”