Online Encyclopedia
Make a correction
Your email address will not appear on the site. Note, comments may take some time to be approved.
Back to article:
MOUSTACHE, or MUSTACHIO
Your email:
Article name:
Article content:
MOUSTACHE, or MUSTACHIO, the hair worn unshaven on the upper lip (see BEARD). The spelling " moustache," now the most common in English usage, is the French form of Ital. mustachio, an adaptation of a Doric dialectical d o ra , upper lip, also hair on the lip; this is generally taken to be a variant of µaura , jaws, mouth, connected with µavavBae, to chew; cf. " mastic," chewing-gum, and " masticate," to chew.