Meaning and origin of the word "muist"

Question

Recently, I've noticed that the NY-Times Wordle game accepts the word "muist" as a five-letter word attempt. But what does it mean and where does it come from?

I've searched online and I stumbled upon a few scrabble-oriented resources that strongly indicate the word is a valid scrabble word (I assume the word is accepted by Wordle because the game imported some word list used for scrabble).

The meaning and origin of the word still remain unclear. scrabble-solver.com defines it as "to powder" and following that lead I came upon an entry in a Scots dictionary that seems to define it similarly. So one hypothesis is that it's a Scots word.

However, the Collins Scrabble Dictionary website has an "Official Word Checker" tool which, for this word only says "See must", suggesting it is an alternative spelling of "must".

According to scrabblewordsolver.com, the Collins dictionary is the only one that lists this word.

Answer 1

According to John Jameson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808), there is (or was) a word spelled muist in Scottish:

MUIST, MUST, s. Musk, Border. [Cited examples:] Thy smell was fell, and stronger than muist. Montgomerie, Watson's Coll. iii. 2. Redolent odour vp from the rutis sprent, / —Aromaticke gummes, or ony fyne potioun ; / Must, myr, aloyes, or confectioun. Doug. Virgil, Prol. 401. 43.

And adding to that entry, Jameson, A Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1825) offers this further note:

MUIST, MUST, s. Musk, S.} Add :—Hence, MUIST-BOX, s. A box for smelling at, a musk-box. [Cited example:] "I'll tell you news, Sirs, I carry a little muist-box (which is the word of God) in my bosom, and when I meet with the ill air of ill company, that's like to gar me swarf, I besmell myself with a sweet savour of it, and with the name of God, which is as ointment poured out." Mich. Bruce's Lect. &c. p. 68.

On the other hand, James Murray, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1908)—the original OED—has only this entry for muist:

MUIST, variant of MUST Obs., musk.

Presumably, if the Scottish word muist ever was in common or occasional use in south-of-the-border English, it fell out of use when the risk that the ill air of ill company would gar one swarf ceased to be so great that well-prepared travelers had to carry a muist-box with them as an emergency source of counter-odors.

Answer 2

The Scottish trail for “muist” appears to be the more interesting one: from “Dictionaries of the Scots Language”:

†MUIST, n., v. Also must; moust, moost.

I - n. 1. Musk (s.Sc. 1808 Jam.), in comb. muist-ball, a perforated ball containing musk or perfume.

• Sc. 1734 J. Spotiswood Hope's Practicks 538: A Silver Muist-ball.

2 - Hair powder or flour used as a substitute for this (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Adj. mousty, moostie, powdered.

• Sc. 1796 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 770: I think ye [a hairdresser] might exemption make, For the young bonny lasses sake, Nor moost nor guinea frae them take. Gsw. 1797 J. Strang Gsw. Clubs (1856) 583: Diel's in the worrie-cow! Is he gaun to pollute my hail kirn o' milk wi' his ill-faured greasy gab and moosty pash? Dmf. 1836 A. Cunningham Lord Roldan III. xi.: Thae carles [priests] wi' the mousty heads and wide sark sleeves, and curious cloaks.

II.- v. To apply hair powder, to powder a wig. Ppl.adj. muisted, mousted, moostet (Gsw. 1807 J. Chirrey Misc. Poetry 103), powdered.

• Sc. 1761 Magopico (1810) 33: What's that you laugh at, you there with the moosted twa-tailed wig and the lang ruffles? Edb. 1795 The Complaint 5: Nae mair the pu'pit maun he speel, Wi' head well muisted owr wi' meal. Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary x.: Would ye creesh his bonny brown hair wi' your nasty ulyie, and then moust it like the auld minister's wig? Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce I. iii.: It matters little . . . whether the idol of the vain unsanctified heart be a tea-cup, a weel-mousted periwig, or the fair face of an enticing maiden.

[O.Sc. moist, 1488, must, 1513, must, O.Fr. must, variant of musc, musk.]

Answer 3

The OED has no entry for "muist" but has mu, noun³ and interjection.

Etymology: < Japanese mu nothingness (13th cent.; 1603 in Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam), use as noun of mu nothing (especially in conventional sayings), no, not, (as prefix) un-, without, -less < Middle Chinese (compare Chinese (Cantonese) mòuh , Chinese (Mandarin) wú no, not, nothing). Compare mushin n., no-decision n. (b) at no adj. Compounds 4.

Zen Buddhism.

A. n.3 A state of voidness, nothingness, or detachment which is thought to transcend the concepts of negative and positive.

1960 B. Leach Potter in Japan x. 222 Appreciation of the meaning of ‘Mu’, or unattachment, deeply imbedded in Taoism, Buddhism and ever present in Zen-inspired arts and crafts.

B. int. Used as an alternative to answering either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, in order to reject the validity of the question. rare.

1934 N. Senzaki & P. Reps Gateless Gate 9 A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese Zen Master: ‘Has a dog Buddha-nature, or not?’ Joshu answered ‘Mu.’

I suspect that a Muist follows the pattern of Calvanist, communist, etc. as one who follows the philosophy of "mu" and/or pracises "mu".