Etymologically
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mustang

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmʌˌsteɪ̯ŋ/, /ˈmʌˌstɛ̃ŋ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish mestengo (“animal that strays”), a Mexican Spanish word,[2][3][4][5] from older Spanish mesteño (“wild, stray, ownerless”),[3][4][6] literally “belonging to the mesta”,[3][4] from mesta (“association of graziers; annual roundup of cattle”),[2][3][4][5] from Medieval Latin mixta (“mixed (animals)”), from Latin miscēre (“to mix”) (see mix).[2][3][4][5] The form may have been influenced by Spanish mostrenco (“straying, ownerless”).[4][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The wild or half-wild horse of the American plains, descended from horses brought by the Spaniards (1808 in the OED, Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster).[9][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The mesta was an association of Spanish cattle ranchers that divided among its members stray or unclaimed animals that had got “mixed” with the herds.[3][4] Bartlett (1848) describes the mustang as the hardy wild horse of the prairies, content with little and able to do great labour.[10] The name was extended to wild horses in Australia (1890)[9] and to a small red grape of Texas (1846).[9] In American military slang a mustang is an officer who has risen from the ranks (1847).[9][5][11]

Timeline

  • 1808 – the wild horse.[9][3][5]
  • 1846 – the mustang grape.[9]
  • 1847 – an officer promoted from the ranks (slang).[9]
  • 1890 – an Australian wild horse.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A small, hardy, wild or half-wild horse of the western plains of North America, descended from Spanish horses; a bronco.
  2. (US military slang) A commissioned officer who has risen from the ranks.

Verb

  1. To hunt or round up wild horses.

Word family

  • mustanger
  • mix
  • mixture
  • bronco
  • pinto
  • cayuse

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford
  11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House