Etymology

Noun

1. The largest member of the deer family (Alces alces), of which the male has very large, palmate antlers.

   We saw two moose at the edge of the woods by the marsh.

Usage notes

• The use of in the plural is sometimes problematic. The regularly-formed plural, , is by now rare and its use may be regarded as irksome and uneuphonious. The form — formed by analogy with → — will in most cases be greeted with a snigger, and is thus generally only appropriate in humorous contexts; even pragmatics notwithstanding, because has Algonquian origins — wholly unrelated to the Germanic roots of , on whose pattern the plural is formed — a strong declension plural form is etymologically inconsistent. The etymologically-consistent plural form would be } — after which Mosinee Creek of Gogebic County, Michigan is named — but this plural form sees no use in English. In ordinary common usage, is treated as an invariant noun, which means its plural is also (as with the names of many animals, such as and , which are also invariant); however, this usage can sometimes be considered stilted when a group of more than one moose are considered individually, in which case avoidance of the plural may be the best option, necessitating the employment of a circumlocution, as above.