I’ve always thought that mold is the fungus, and to mould is to shape. When talking about it with my colleagues yesterday, I was surprised that this isn’t common. Most people use one of the two spellings to refer to both.
Doing a quick search on duckduckgo also confirms that:
- mould is the British spelling referring both meanings.
- mold is the american spelling referring to both meanings.
In my quest to prove them wrong, I was surprised at how wrong I was… until I discovered a few people on the internet who said the same thing:
- https://english.stackexchange.com/a/169920
- https://english.stackexchange.com/a/172089
- https://english.stackexchange.com/a/139605
- https://old.reddit.com/r/confidentlyincorrect/comments/18sx2l0/mold_vs_mould_doubled_down/kfaa6nj/
- https://old.reddit.com/r/confidentlyincorrect/comments/18sx2l0/mold_vs_mould_doubled_down/kfcio12/
- https://old.reddit.com/r/confidentlyincorrect/comments/18sx2l0/mold_vs_mould_doubled_down/kfet3jz/
I’m not looking for what’s correct or incorrect anymore, I just find it very fascinating that there are some people who use the words similarly to me, but the vast majority of others who use it in a different way.
So: what’s the difference between mould and mold according to you?
Steve Mould obviously
I’ve always thought that mold is the fungus, and to mould is to shape.
I actually do this too. Not because I think it’s correct as such, but because that way I am consistent and I know what I’m talking about when I read back previous text that I’ve written.
I remember it by Mold = simplified English = simple organism.
I use “mold” for both, and regard “mould” as the British spelling for both.
But the etymologies are interesting—the verb comes from French modle, while the fungus comes from late Middle English mould. So if anything, your assumed distinction is etymologically reversed.
That seems to be the consensus online. But thanks for that tidbit! It feels even more bizarre now knowing that.
I wonder why a handful of people think the way I presented in the post. Perhaps American/British influences in certain places? Reading books by british authors and books by american authors at the same time? Feels unlikely.
You know that there are two unrelated words, and you’ve seen two different spellings—it’s a natural assumption that the latter stems from the former.
Why so many people would pair them up the same (etymologically unsupported) way, I don’t know… maybe we’re used to correlating words relating to art with French, and assuming that words with “ou” come from French as well (and this case just happens to be an exception).
Moulding is the trim around walls and whatnot. Molding is when something is in the process of having mold growing on it.
Wouldn’t that be mouldering?
Maybe. I honestly don’t know. Not really my field of expertise.
Moldering: “to crumble into dust, to rot”
All the definitions of molding I can find, are about shaping something.
I use what you do
I always thought mould was the fungus and to mold was to manipulate a material
I’m Canadian, and we use a mix of British and American spellings, mostly depending on how we feel at the time of writing.
This is how I use it. So one could mold mould if they were so inclined.
I do this too, to keep them separate in my head. I get that they’re interchangeable.
In Australia, I used to use them the opposite way as you: “mould” for the fungus, and “mold” to shape. These days I live in the USA and use “mold” for both.
I say mould because I’m English and that’s just how it’s spelled here (we also pronounce it with a U, pronouncing it without the U as mold would be…strange).
Not an overly exciting response I know, but there you go :P
How do you pronounce the U? Do you pronounce mould like should, would, or could? Is your pronunciation of mould then closer to mud than old with an M in front?
It’s pronounced ‘moeoueieueld’. You really need to emphasise the ‘a’ sound to get it right.
I bit my tongue, thanks
Now I’m realizing, I don’t pronounce the L in those words… Maybe they pronounce it liked mulled?
In honesty (my last comment was clearly not legit), you likely do pronounce the ‘L’; most accents will include this in my experience.
Does the tip of your tongue touch the roof of your mouth just on or behind the ridge before your front teeth? If you release your tongue before pronouncing the ‘D’ is there a release of air? If you do position your tongue here and there is no release of air before pronouncing the ‘D’ (which does release air), then you are pronouncing the ‘L’.
I could see some accents not pronouncing the L. It may colour the vowel, but not be a distinct sound on its own.
American here, I’ve never used “mould” for any definition, personally- always “mold”
I do the same as you. Although I usually default to the UK’s use of u’s. Just feels right.
I thought the same for the longest time. I blame playing tons of runescape as a kid.
I am an American so mold spelling is definitely what I ran into when referring to the fungus. Runescape is British English, so you used moulds all the time in crafting.
“mould” should be pronounced the same as would or could
I use mold for everything, but don’t really bat an eye at using mould for the tool that is used to make parts which I see pretty often through my work.
If you browse Canadian tool shops in Southern Ontario, Canada you will see thrm named Tool and Mold, or Tool and Mould. Nobody agrees Lol
As someone who regularly uses both British and American English both at work and in my personal life, I sometimes mix them unintentionally.
I almost always use the same spelling for either word and use context to make sure it is always clear which mold I am talking about.
I do think there is value in distinguishing the words with different spelling, but without getting everyone to agree on which spelling would mean what, I think this won’t be very productive.
