The noun μωμος (momos) means blame, blemish or disgrace (2 Peter 2:13 only). This relatively rare word appears in the Septuagint tellingly in Leviticus 24:19: "And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him." Unlike the Hebrews, the Greeks thought blemishes were hilarious and took to venerating a deity called Momus, who personified satire and mockery.

It's apparently a big mystery where our word came from. There's also a verb μωμαι (momai), meaning to covet, which appears to relate to μαιομαι (maiomai), to touch or seek for (both unused in the New Testament). But that's pretty much where for most commentators the trail runs cold.

The Greek alphabet was adapted from the Hebrew one, and was introduced into the Greek language basin along with an injection of handy terms to jump start the later so famous Greek wisdom tradition. The actual Hebrew word for blemish as used in Leviticus 24:19 is מום (mum) or מאום (m'um), which is obviously where our noun μωμος (momos) comes from.

This word מום (mum) appears five times between Leviticus 21:17 and 21:23, three times from 22:20 to 22:25, two times in 24:19-20, once in Numbers 19:2, twice in Deuteronomy 15:21, once in Deuteronomy 17:1, 2 Samuel 14:25, Job 11:15 and Song of Solomon 4:7: "You are altogether beautiful, my darling, And there is no blemish in you." The variant מאום (m'um) occurs in Job 31:7 and Daniel 1:4.

Our noun μωμος (momos) is used only once in the New Testament, namely in 2 Peter 2:13. From it derive: