Moustache
/mʌˈstɑːʃ/noun
Hair growing on the upper lip.
Did you know?English got moustache through French, which borrowed it from Italian mustaccio, ultimately from Greek mystax/mustax—an ancient word for the upper lip, not a spell, though it still sounds like one.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
mýstax / mystax
“the upper lip, or the hair growing on it”
Late Latin
Latin
mustacium
“mustache; upper-lip hair”
Medieval Italian
Italian
mustaccio
“mustache”
16th Century
French
moustache
“mustache”
16th Century
English
moustache
“upper-lip hair”
Modern English
English
moustache
“hair growing on the upper lip”
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