Mood Once Meant Courage and Anger
A mood is a temporary state of mind. In Old English it meant something far fiercer.
A mood is a temporary state of mind or feeling. Old English *mod* meant something much stronger: the heart, spirit, courage, and often anger. Heroic poetry uses it for the fierce resolve of a warrior, and that sense survives faintly in *moody*, which implies sullen temper rather than mere feeling. The grammatical *mood* (indicative, imperative, subjunctive) is a different word entirely, an alteration of *mode* influenced by the spelling of the first.
- A state of feeling. *A good mood.*
- A grammatical category. *The subjunctive mood.*
- Spirit or courage (archaic). *Mod.*
- Moody — prone to sullen moods. *Moody.*
- Old English — *mod*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | mood | A mood. |
| Plural | moods | Moods. |
| Adjective | moody | Moody. |
| German | Mut | Courage. |
| Old English | mod | Spirit. |
- She was in a good mood.Feeling.
- Mod meant courage.History.
- The imperative mood.Grammar.
Grammatical moods
- Indicative — states a fact: *she runs*
- Imperative — gives a command: *run*
- Subjunctive — marks the hypothetical: *if I were*
- Conditional — often counted as a fourth
- This mood is a respelling of mode, not the feeling word
Old English *mod*, mind, spirit or courage, related to German *Mut*, courage.
Did mood always mean feeling?
No. Old English mod meant heart, spirit or courage, and often anger. The gentler modern sense came later.
Is grammatical mood the same word?
No. It is an alteration of mode, reshaped by the spelling of the feeling word.