Etymologically
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mogul

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 07:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈməʊɡəl/ (UK); /ˈmoʊɡəl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It comes from Mogul, the name for the Mongol rulers of India,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Persian مغول (mughul),[2][6][3][4][5] from Mongolian mongγol “Mongol”.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Great Mogul, the European name for the emperor of Delhi (1588).[7][6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Europeans called the Mongol emperor of India, whose dynasty was founded by Babur in 1526, the Great Mogul.[4][7][2] From this title the word was transferred, by 1678, to any great personage or autocrat,[7][3][4] and today usually means a powerful magnate in a particular business.[2][6][5] The mogul of a ski slope, a bump of hard snow (1959–1961), is a different word,[7][6][3] probably from a Scandinavian dialect word for “heap”[3][2] or from a southern German dialect word for a small hill.[6][5][4]

Timeline

  • 1588 – the Great Mogul, the emperor of Delhi.[7][6][3]
  • 1625 – a follower of Genghis Khan or of Babur.[7]
  • 1678 – a great personage; an autocrat.[7][3]
  • 1884 – a type of locomotive.[7]
  • 1959–1961 – a bump on a ski slope (a separate word).[6][7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A very rich or powerful person; a magnate.
  2. (usually capitalized) A member of the Muslim dynasty founded by Babur that ruled India from 1526 to 1857.
  3. A bump of hard snow on a ski slope.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press