mushroom

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

mushroom

/ˈmʌʃˌɹuːm/ UK
/-ˌɹʊm/ UK
/-ˌɹəm/ UK
/ˈmʌʃˌɹʉwm/ British, Southern, Standard
/-ˌɹɵm/ British, Southern, Standard
/-ˌɹəm/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈmʊʃˌɹuːm/ Northern England
/-ˌɹʊm/ Northern England
/-ˌɹəm/ Northern England
/ˈmʌʃˌɾʉm/ Scotland
/-ˌɾəm/ Scotland
/ˈməʃˌɾuːm/ Wales
/-ˌɾʊm/ Wales
/-ˌɾəm/ Wales
/ˈmʌʃˌɹum/ Canada, US
/-ˌɹʊm/ Canada, US
/-ˌɹəm/ Canada, US
/ˈmɐʃˌɹʉːm/ Australia, New Zealand
/-ˌɹʊm/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈ-ˌɹəm/ Australia, New Zealand

Rhymes with -ʌʃɹuːm, -ʌʃɹʊm

Where it comes from

From Middle English muscheron, musseron, from Anglo-Norman musherum, moscheron, from Old French moisseron, of obscure origin: probably derived from Old French mosse, moise ("moss"; whence also French mousse), as the use first applied to a type of fungus which grows in moss, from Frankish *mosu (“moss”) or Old Dutch *mosa (“moss”), akin to Old High German mosa (“moor, swamp”), Old High German mos (“moss, bog”), Old High German mios (“moss, mire”), Old English mēos (“moss”), Old English mōs (“bog, marsh”), Old Norse mosi (“moss”), Old Norse myrr (“bog, mire”), from Proto-Germanic *musą, *musô, *miuziz (“mosses, bog”), from Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“mosses, mold, mildew”). Displaced native Old English swamm. More at mire. Alternatively, the Old French may be of pre-Roman origin. See Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs, “mushroom”). Doublet of moss and mousse.

noun mushrooms

Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil or on their food sources (such as decaying wood). Some mushrooms are edible whereas others are poisonous, and sometimes they are difficult to tell apart.
Similar: shroom, mushrump
A fungus producing such fruiting bodies.
Champignon or Agaricus bisporus, the mushroom species most commonly used in cooking.
Any of the mushroom-shaped pegs in bar billiards.
A concrete column with a thickened portion at the top, used to support a slab.
figuratively, obsolete One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart. upstarts […]call in reproach mushrooms
figuratively Something that grows very quickly or seems to appear suddenly. The craze [hula hoops] began in the U.S.A., and in October the boom crossed the Atlantic and 40 firms sprang into being, some being overnight mushrooms.
abbreviation, ellipsis Ellipsis of mushroom cloud

adjective

attributive, not comparable Having characteristics like those of a mushroom, for example in shape or appearance, speed of growth, or texture. mushroom cloud

verb mushrooms · mushrooming · mushroomed

figuratively, intransitive To grow quickly to a large size or rapidly increase in scope or scale. The town’s population mushroomed from 10,000 to 110,000 in five years.
intransitive To gather mushrooms. We used to go mushrooming in the forest every weekend.
intransitive To form the shape of a mushroom. Excessive spot weld time may cause the electrode tips to mushroom, resulting in no focus of current and a weak weld.
intransitive, of a bullet To form the shape of a mushroom when striking a soft target.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: mushroom cloud, mushroom-shaped cloud, morel, agaric, fungus, fungal, tyrosinase, fungi, pathogen, ketchup, catsup, catchup, yeast, crow, cepe, brooke

Translations

Every language

noun fungus itself

Kiswahili	kuvu
Português	fungo, cogumelo
Deutsch	Pilz
Русский	грибни́ца gribníca

noun fruiting body of a fungus — see also fungus, champignon, fairy-ring champignon

Español	seta, callampa
한국어	버섯 beoseot
日本語	キノコ kinoko, 茸 kinoko, きのこ kinoko
中文	蘑菇 mógu, 蕈 xùn, 菌子 jùnzi
हिन्दी	कुकुरमुत्ता kukurmuttā, कुकुरमुता kukurmutā, खुंभी khumbhī, खुंबी khumbī, खुमी khumī, मशरूम maśrūm
Kiswahili	uyoga
Português	cogumelo
Français	champignon
Deutsch	Pilz, Schwamm
Italiano	fungo
Ελληνικά	μανιτάρι manitári
Română	ciupercă
Русский	гриб grib
Tiếng Việt	nấm
العربية	فُطْر m عَيْش الْغُرَاب fuṭr
עברית	פִּטרִיָה pitriyá

adj resembling a mushroom

Português	de cogumelo
Русский	грибови́дный gribovídnyj

verb to grow quickly

Español	multiplicarse como hongos
Português	estourar, explodir
Français	champignonner
Deutsch	wuchern

verb to gather mushrooms

Português	colher cogumelos
Français	champignonner
Deutsch	Pilze ernten, Pilze sammeln

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"mushroom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mushroom. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mushroom. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mushroom

Chicago

"mushroom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mushroom.

BibTeX

@misc{mushroom_2026,
  title = {mushroom},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mushroom},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}