Mustvee was attested in historical sources as
Mustut in 1493; as
folwark Mostfersth alias Czarny,
Mosthffer, and
wioska Musth alias Czarne in 1599; and as
Mustvett in 1601, among other variations. The name literally means 'black water', from
must 'black' +
vee (genitive of
vesi 'water'). It is believed that *
Mustvesi 'black water' was probably a parallel name for Lake Peipus. Another possibility is that 'black water' referred to a river rather than the lake. In Estonian toponyms, the final element
vesi 'water' is infrequent, but it is found in the names of some Finnish lakes, such as
Enonvesi and
Toisvesi. ==History==