mus

Forms

mus m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Basque mus, also mux, the general name of the card game throughout the Basque Country.^[2][3][4][1] The Basque word in turn comes from French mouche (“fly”), so the name means “fly”.^[2][3][4]

Azkue held the game to be of Basque origin;^[2] Schuchardt pointed to the French source, observing that the same game is known by its French name in Germany.^[2] The French word goes back to Latin musca (“fly”),^[5] which de Vaan derives from *muskā and, perhaps through an imitation of the buzzing sound, from Proto-Indo-European *mu-s-.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in the Academy's dictionary of 1843, marked as provincial and defined as a card game played in some provinces.^[2][3][7] Corominas notes that Pagés gives examples from the Madrid writer Ricardo de la Vega, and the phrase no hay mus from Bretón de los Herreros.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1846 Salvá added the figurative phrase no hay mus, used to refuse a request or deny assent, taken from the game, where it means that no exchange of cards is allowed.^[8] Domínguez's dictionary of 1846–1847 describes the game in detail: four cards to each player, a discard only if all players agree, and the four plays mayor, menor, pares and juego.^[9] The Academy dropped the label “provincial” in 1899, defining it as a card game with betting, and entered the phrase no hay mus.^[10] Alemany's dictionary of 1917 was the first to call it a Basque word.^[11]

Today it names the betting card game, with its four independent rounds, and, within the game, the discard itself.^[4] Partners may make agreed signs to each other.^[12] Basque also has the verb museatu (“to play mus”), the source of Spanish musear.^[2]

Timeline

• 1843 – first record, in the Academy's dictionary, as a provincial word.^[2][3][7]
• 1846 – Salvá records the phrase no hay mus.^[8]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary defines it without a regional label and adds no hay mus.^[10]
• 1903 – a novel published in Mexico mentions a nightly game of mus.^[13]
• 1917 – Alemany marks it as a Basque word.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (card games) mus: a Spanish card game with betting (envite), played in four separate rounds, in which cards may be discarded if all the players agree: Los domingos jugamos al mus en el bar.^[4][1]
2. (card games) In mus, the discard of cards (descarte).^[4][14]

Related words

• órdago
• mosca
• French mouche

Usage notes

The phrase no hay mus is used to refuse what someone asks for.^[4][10] Moliner lists the expression sin decir tus ni mus “without a word” under a separate headword.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 194
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mus
4. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. mus
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. mouche
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. musca
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 491
8. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 741
9. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1236
10. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 683
11. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1178
12. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mus
13. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. mus
14. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. mus