Moulden

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic past participle describing something that has been given a particular shape or form
2. Old-fashioned wording for an object that was formed or pressed into a set shape
3. Archaic form meaning shaped, fashioned or produced by pressing material into a particular outline

Etymology: "Moulden" is a verb built from the noun "mould" (the soft, crumbly earth or the fungal growth) plus the verbal suffix "-en", which turns a noun into a verb meaning to become or make something a certain way. So to moulden is to become mouldy, or to be covered with mould. The pattern is the same one that gives us "darken", "soften" and "sicken". The suffix does most of the work here. Its job is to say "to become" or "to cause to become", so the verb carries the sense of a process: something gradually turning into the state the noun describes. That is why "moulden" is usually used of objects or food slowly decaying over time rather than of a single moment of change.