mutant

Etymology

The OED takes it as borrowed from German Mutant, a noun used by H. de Vries in “Die Mutationstheorie” (1901),^[2] which was formed on the stem Latin mūtant- (“changing”), from the present participle of mūtō (“to change”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Most other dictionaries derive the English word directly from the Latin participle.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} French mutant is recorded as an adjective from 1909 and as a noun from 1931.^[2] Etymonline traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“to change, go, move”),^[5] and Merriam-Webster connects it with miss.^[6] The same verb gave mutation, mutate, commute, moult and permutation.^[10][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In biology, an organism or form that has arisen by mutation: 1901, in the Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the biological noun to 1900.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word arose with de Vries's theory of mutation in biology, and the adjective followed in 1903, in the American Naturalist.^[2][4][6] In science fiction a mutant became an imagined being with freakish anatomy or powers produced by mutation: the OED finds it in Astounding Stories in 1934,^[2][7] and Etymonline dates this sense to 1954.^[5] An extended sense is found from 1971.^[2] In American slang it has been a term of abuse for someone seen as antisocial since 1984;^[2] Green's dictionary records it in American campus slang for a social outcast,^[11] and in New Zealand teenage slang for an idiot.^[11]

Timeline

• 1901 – biology, an organism or gene that has arisen by mutation.^[2][4]
• 1903 – adjective, resulting from mutation.^[2][4][6]
• 1934 – science fiction, a being with freakish anatomy or powers.^[2]
• 1971 – in extended use.^[2]
• 1984 – US slang, an antisocial person.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (biology) An organism, gene or cell that has undergone or arisen by mutation.^[12][6][2]
2. In science fiction, a being whose body or abilities have been changed by mutation.^[2][7]
3. (slang) A person regarded as an outcast or as antisocial; also used as an insult.^[2][11]

Adjective

1. Resulting from or showing the effects of mutation: a mutant strain of the virus.^[12][6][2]

Related words

• mutate
• mutation
• commute
• permutation
• moult
• mutable

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins