mule
/mjuːl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.44 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece, either intentionally or in error.
noun
A MMORPG character, or NPC companion in a tabletop RPG, used mainly to store extra inventory for the owner's primary character.
noun
Any of a group of cocktails involving ginger ale or ginger beer, citrus juice, and various liquors.
Example Sentences
- "One day he ran into a herd of a half dozen elk, so he rode his mule down the canyon three or four miles, leaving the sheep alone."
- "It would be exceedingly interesting to know if the hybrid would reproduce, a matter I deem exceedingly doubtful, for the chances are it would prove a "mule" (infertile)."
- "Vegetable mules supply an irrefragable argument in favour of the sexual system of botany."
- "The most extraordinary mule, however, that is asserted to have been produced on the Continent, is a cross between the cabbage and horse-radish, which Monsieur Sageret reports that he has obtained […]"
- ""Where in the hell do you think I learned to be such a mule?”"
- "Cocaine packet ingestion (these patients referred to as “mules”) may warrant surgery, Golytely or expectant passage."
Etymology
Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Italic *musklos? Latin mūlus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Italic *-ā Latin -a Latin mūla Anglo-Norman mulebor. ▲ Latin mūlusbor. Proto-West Germanic *mūl Old English mūl Middle English mule English mule Inherited from Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule (“she-mule”) and Old English mūl, both ultimately from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós. Compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /mjuːl/
- British English: /mjuːl/