Where does “mushroom” come from?

Mushroom comes from Anglo-Norman musherum through Middle English musheron, with the original sense unknown.

mushroom (English): Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi...

Definitions

  1. Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi...

Ancestry of “mushroom”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmuscheronmushroom
2Anglo-Normanmusherum—
3Old Frenchmoisseron—
4Old Frenchmossemoss
5Frankishmosamoss
6Proto-Germanicmusąmoss, bog
7Proto-Indo-Europeanmūs-fly, stinging fly, gnat; moist, damp; swamp,...

Words derived from “mushroom”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European mūs- →Every word from Proto-Germanic musą →Every word from Frankish mosa →