Moses

See also: moses, Móses, and Moyses

English

Etymology

From Latin Mōsēs, from Ancient Greek Μωσῆς (Mōsês), from earlier Μωυσῆς (Mōusês), from Biblical Hebrew מֹשֶׁה (mōšê). Further etymology is unclear, but it is sometimes conjectured to derive from Egyptian

(msj, “to give birth to”), a common element in Egyptian names of the form ‘[name of deity] is the one who bore him’; or, alternatively, contains Egyptian

(mw, “water”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊzɪs/, /ˈməʊzɪz/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊzəz/, /ˈmoʊzəs/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -əʊzɪz, -əʊzɪs

Proper noun

Moses

(biblical) The pharaonic patriarch who led the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt, the brother of Aaron and Miriam described in the Book of Exodus and the Quran.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 19:20, column 1:
  And the Lord came downe vpon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moſes vp to the top of the mount, and Moſes went vp.
- 1952 Singin' in the Rain: Moses supposes (a song):
  Moses supposes his toeses are roses, / But Moses supposes erroneously, / Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses, / As Moses supposes his toeses to be!
A male given name from Hebrew.
A surname transferred from the given name.
A dialect of the Columbia-Wenatchi language
(US, African American culture) pseudonym for Harriet Tubman

Synonyms

(Jewish male given name):

Moishe
Moshe

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

the biblical patriarch

Albanian: Moisiu m, Musa m (Muslim)
Amharic: ሙሴ (Musse)
Arabic: مُوسَىٰ (ar) m (mūsā)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܡܘܫܐ

Samaritan Aramaic: ࠌࠦࠔࠨࠄ (mūši)
Armenian: Մովսես (Movses)
Old Armenian: Մովսէս (Movsēs)
Azerbaijani: Musa (az)
Bashkir: Муса (Musa)
Basque: Mois
Belarusian: Майсе́й m (Majsjéj)
Bengali: মূসা (bn) (mūsa)
Bulgarian: Моисе́й m (Moiséj)
Catalan: Moisès
Chinese:
Cantonese: 摩西 (mo¹ sai¹), 梅瑟 (mui⁴ sat¹) (Catholic)

Hakka: 摩西 (Mô-sî)

Hokkien: 摩西 (zh-min-nan) (Mô͘-se)

Mandarin: 摩西 (zh) (Móxī) (Protestant), 梅瑟 (zh) (Méisè) (Catholic), 摩伊息斯 (zh) (Móyīxīsī) (Orthodox), 穆撒 (zh) (Mùsǎ) (Islam)
Coptic: ⲙⲱⲥⲏ (mōsē)
Czech: Mojžíš (cs) m
Danish: Moses
Dutch: Mozes (nl)
Esperanto: Moseo
Estonian: Mooses
Farefare: Mose
Faroese: Móses m
Finnish: Mooses (fi)
French: Moïse (fr) m
Middle French: Moyse m

Old French: Moyses
Georgian: მოსე (mose)
German: Moses (de) m (Catholic), Mose (de) m (Protestant)
Gothic: 𐌼𐍉𐍃𐌴𐍃 (mōsēs)
Greek: Μωυσής (el) m (Moysís)
Ancient: Μωϋσῆς m (Mōüsês), Μωσῆς (Mōsês)
Hausa: Musa
Hawaiian: Mose
Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה (he) m (moshé), מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ m (moshé rabénu)
Hindi: मूसा (hi) m (mūsā)
Hungarian: Mózes (hu)
Indonesian: Musa
Irish: Maois m
Old Irish: Moysi m
Italian: Mosè
Japanese: モーセ (Mōse)
Jarai: Môis
Kashubian: Mózes
Kazakh: Мұса (Mūsa)
Khmer: ម៉ូសេ (mousee)
Konkani: मूजे (mūje)
Korean: 모세 (Mose)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: مووسا (mûsa)

Northern Kurdish: Mûsa (ku)
Ladino: Moshe
Lak: Муса идавс (Musa idaws)
Latin: Mōsēs m, Mō̆ȳsēs, Mō̆īsēs
Latvian: Mozus
Lithuanian: Mozė m
Macedonian: Мојсеј (Mojsej)
Malay: Musa
Maori: Mohi
Maranao: Mosa
Mongolian: Мосе (Mose)
Navajo: Mózes
Norwegian: Moses (no)
Ottoman Turkish: موسی (musa)
Persian: موسی (fa) (musâ)
Plautdietsch: Moses
Polish: Mojżesz (pl) m
Portuguese: Moisés (pt) m
Romanian: Moise m
Russian: Моисе́й (ru) m (Moiséj)
Scottish Gaelic: Maois m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Мојсије m, Муса m (Muslim)

Roman: Mojsije m, Musa (sh) m (Muslim)
Sicilian: Moisès m, Musè m
Slovak: Mojžíš m
Slovene: Mójzes (sl) m
Sogdian: [script needed] (mwšʾ /⁠mušā⁠/)
Spanish: Moisés (es)
Swahili: Musa, Mose
Swedish: Mose (sv)
Tagalog: Moises
Tamil: மோசே (mōcē)
Tatar: Муса (Musa)
Tibetan: མོ་ཤི (mo shi)
Turkish: Musa (tr), Mûsâ (tr), Musalar (tr) pl, Mûsâlar (tr) pl
Ukrainian: Мойсе́й (uk) m (Mojséj)
Urdu: موسیٰ m (mūsā)
Vietnamese: Môi-se, Mô-sê
Welsh: Moses m
Yiddish: משה m (moyshe)

male given name

Arabic: مُوسَى (ar) m (mūsā)
Armenian: Մովսես (Movses)
Old Armenian: Մովսէս (Movsēs)
Bengali: মূসা (bn) (mūsa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 摩西 (zh) (Móxī)
Galician: Moisés (gl) m
Hausa: Musa
Hawaiian: Moke
Hungarian: Mózes (hu)
Latvian: Mozus m
Macedonian: Мојсеј m (Mojsej)
Malay: Musa
Maori: Mohi
Navajo: Mózes
Portuguese: Moisés (pt) m
Sicilian: Musè m
Swahili: Musa
Swedish: Moses (sv)
Tamil: மோசே (mōcē)
Turkish: Musa (tr), Mûsâ (tr), Musalar (tr) pl, Mûsâlar (tr) pl, Mısa, Mısalar pl
Ukrainian: Мойсей (uk) m (Mojsej)

Interjection

Moses

An exclamation of shock.

Anagrams

Mosse, Somes

Danish

Proper noun

Moses

Moses (biblical figure)

German

Etymology

Biblical, cognate with English Moses.

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Proper noun

Moses m (proper noun, strong, genitive Moses or Mosis)

(biblical) Moses
Synonym: Moyses

Synonyms

Mose (Protestant)

Latin

Alternative forms

Mō̆ȳsēs, Mō̆īsēs, Moesēs

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μωσῆς (Mōsês), from earlier Μωυσῆς (Mōusês), from Biblical Hebrew מֹשֶׁה (mōšê). Doublet of Mō̆ȳsēs.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmoː.seːs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɔː.s̬es]

Proper noun

Mōsēs m sg (genitive Mōsī or Mōsēī or Mōsis or Mōsēn or Mōseōs); irregular

(biblical) a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Moses

Declension

Irregular noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Mōsēs
genitive	Mōsī Mōsēī Mōsis Mōsēn Mōseōs
dative	Mōsī
accusative	Mōsēn Mōsem
ablative	Mōse Mōsēn Mōsī
vocative	Mōsēs Mōsē

Derived terms

mōsēius
mōsēus
mōsiticus

Descendants

→ Danish: Moses
→ Dutch: Mozes
→ English: Moses
→ Estonian: Mooses
→ Finnish: Mooses
→ German: Moses, Mose
→ Hungarian: Mózes
→ Italian: Mosè
→ Japanese: モーセ (Mōse)
→ Lithuanian: Mozė
→ Norwegian Bokmål: Moses
→ Norwegian Nynorsk: Moses
→ Scottish Gaelic: Maois
→ Swedish: Moses, Mose

References

“Mōses”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Moses in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Norwegian Bokmål

Proper noun

Moses

Moses (biblical figure)

Related terms

Mose-
mosaisk

Norwegian Nynorsk

Proper noun

Moses

Moses (biblical figure)

Related terms

Mose-
mosaisk

Swedish

Etymology

Biblical, cognate with English Moses, from earlier versions of the Swedish Bible.

Proper noun

Moses c (genitive Moses)

a male given name (quite rare)

Related terms

Mose
mosaisk