mold

Etymology 1

From Middle English molde (“mold, cast”), from Old French modle, mole, from Latin modulus, from Latin modus. Doublet of module, modulus, and model.

noun

1. A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance.
2. A frame or model around or on which something is formed or shaped.
3. Something that is made in or shaped on a mold.
4. The shape or pattern of a mold.
5. General shape or form.
   the oval mold of her face
   Crowned with an architrave of antique mould. 1711, Alexander Pope, "The Temple of Fame", in The Works of Alexander Pope: New Ed. Including Several Hundred Unpublished Letters, and Other New Materials, Collected in Part by John Wilson Croker. With Introd. and Notes by Whitwell Elwin, Volume 1, J.Murray, p.206
6. Distinctive character or type.
   a leader in the mold of her predecessors
7. A fixed or restrictive pattern or form.
   His method of scientific investigation broke the mold and led to a new discovery.
8. (architecture) A group of moldings.
   the arch mold of a porch or doorway;  the pier mold of a Gothic pier, meaning the whole profile, section, or combination of parts
9. (anatomy) A fontanelle.

verb

1. (transitive) To shape in or on a mold; to form into a particular shape; to give shape to.
   Not only in formal discourse, but in the ordinary walks of life, a well-modulated, expressive voice is a most valuable asset, whether one’s object be to interest, persuade or convince, to give a command or entreat a favor. The moulding of the voice into finished articulate speech is a mechanism in which the entire oral cavity, including palate, teeth, tongue and lips, take an important part. As a result of either structural defect of these organs, or, as is more often the case, as a consequence of their imperfect innervation, various logopathies may occur, which profoundly affect the social status of the unfortunate individual and seriously embarrass his way to a successful career. Lisping, stuttering, stammering, lallation, nunnation and sigmatism, paragammacism and paralambdacism are but few of the locutory evils encountered, much too frequently in adolescents and adults. The fact that they are mostly amenable to treatment and may often be completely corrected, with proper attention and training, is something that needs to be more thoroughly impressed upon our educational bodies and sociologic reformers. 1910, Walter A. Wells, “The hygienic, economic and sociologic aspect of the throat”, in The Laryngoscope, volume 20, number 1, →DOI, pages 47–48
   Your hands shaped me and made me … Remember that you molded me like clay. 1978, Job 10:8-9, Old Testament, New International Version
2. (transitive) To guide or determine the growth or development of; influence
   It is you who must mold the minds of your students that they may be wise, farsighted, intelligent, profound in their thinking, devoted to their country and government and fruitful in their work. It is you who must sense as the example. 1963. Haile Selassie (translated)
3. (transitive) To fit closely by following the contours of.
4. (transitive) To make a mold of or from (molten metal, for example) before casting.
5. (transitive) To ornament with moldings.
6. (intransitive) To be shaped in or as if in a mold.
   These shoes gradually molded to my feet.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mowlde, noun use and alteration of mowled, past participle of mowlen, moulen (“to grow moldy”), from Old Norse mygla (compare dialectal Danish mugle), from Proto-Germanic *muglōną, diminutive and denominative of *mukiz 'soft substance' (compare Old Norse myki, mykr (“cow dung”)), from Proto-Indo-European *mewk- (“slick, soft”). More at muck and meek.

noun

1. A natural substance in the form of a woolly or furry growth of tiny fungi that appears when organic material lies for a long time exposed to (usually warm and moist) air.
2. A fungus that creates such colored, furry growths.

verb

1. (transitive) To cause to become moldy; to cause mold to grow upon.
2. (intransitive) To become moldy; to be covered or filled, in whole or in part, with a mold.

Etymology 3

From Middle English molde, from Old English molde, from Proto-Germanic *muldō (“dirt, soil”) (compare Old Frisian molde, Middle Dutch moude, Dutch moude, obsolete German Molte, Norwegian Bokmål mold, and Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (mulda)), from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥h₂-téh₂ (compare Old Irish moll (“bran”), Lithuanian mìltai (“flour”)), from *melh₂-. Compare also Ashkun míč (“clay”), Kamkata-viri mřëí, muří (“clay”), Prasuni mire (“clay”), Waigali muk (“clay”).

noun

1. Loose friable soil, rich in humus and fit for planting.
2. (UK, dialectal, chiefly plural) Earth, ground.

verb

1. To cover with mold or soil.

Etymology 4

From Middle English molde (“top of the head”), from Old English molda, molde, from Proto-West Germanic *moldō, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥Hdʰṓ; exactly parallel to Sanskrit मूर्धन् (mūrdhan).

noun

1. (dialectal or obsolete) The top or crown of the head.
   By reaſon whereof the flaſhing of the Water, and ſharpness of the Air, did ſo pierce the Archbiſhop (being above Threeſcore and thirteen years of Age) that he complained the ſame night of a great cold, which he had then taken in the mould of his Head. 1612, Sir George Paule, The life of John Whitgift[…], London: Ri. Chiswell, published 1699, page 118
   […]its eyes as large as a mans; and betwixt the two eyes, it hath a hole like the mould in the head of a man, by which it ſucks in and ſpouts out the Water[…] 1687, Jean de Thévenot, “Book I, Chapter II”, in Archibald Lovell, transl., Travels into the Levant, volume Part II, London, page 6