มวย

Thai

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemicมวย
m w y
RomanizationPaiboonmuai
Royal Institutemuai
(standard) IPA(key)/mua̯j˧/(R)

Etymology 1

Probably borrowed from Sanskrit मव्यति (mavyati, “to bind”).[1] The semantic shift would be along the lines of "binding" > "clinching" > "boxing". Cognate with Lao ມວຍ (muāi), Shan မူၺ်း (mói).

Noun

มวย • (muai)

  1. (sports) boxing; fisticuffs; fistfight; pugilism
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Likely of the same origin as Etymology 1, retaining the original sense of "binding".

Verb

มวย • (muai) (abstract noun การมวย)

  1. to roll hair into a chignon or bun

Noun

มวย • (muai)

  1. knot; bun; chignon

Derived terms

  • ผมมวย
  • มวยผม

References

  1. ^ Pokkasab, Atthanij (16 November 2015), “Facebook post on the origin of "Muay Thai"”, in Facebook post‎[1] (Facebook post), archived from the original on 18 September 2025

Further reading

  • “มวย” in Thai Dictionary Project (TDP) (UC Berkeley 1964) (plus additional data from the Royal Institute of Thailand (RI) and NECTEC's LEXITRON project (LEX)). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.
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