Etymologically
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mutant

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 03:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈmjuːtənt/[1]
  • US: /ˈmju(t)n̩(t)/[1]

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]
  • 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