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?
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.