10-07-2017, 11:00 PM
In modern Dutch too, moes means puré, though mostly in standard compounds and expressions. For example, a traditional dish is blood sausage with appelmoes.
The etymological dictionaries and other sources I consulted are clear, though, that the mus in musdele originally just meant food. The widow or divorcee was literally entitled to a set part of the food supplies, to allow her to survive in comfort for a while.
The same Germanic root gave English 'meat', which first meant food in general.
These terms have a tendency to specialize, depending on what this food often is. Mashed things were often eaten, so mus and moes specialized to mean only that.
The flesh of animals is also often eaten, so in English meat came to bear that specific meaning.
The etymological dictionaries and other sources I consulted are clear, though, that the mus in musdele originally just meant food. The widow or divorcee was literally entitled to a set part of the food supplies, to allow her to survive in comfort for a while.
The same Germanic root gave English 'meat', which first meant food in general.
These terms have a tendency to specialize, depending on what this food often is. Mashed things were often eaten, so mus and moes specialized to mean only that.
The flesh of animals is also often eaten, so in English meat came to bear that specific meaning.