mule English · revision 1011

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mjuːl/, /mjuːəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mule]], partly [[inh|ang|mūl]] and partly [[bor|fro|mul]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) both from [[la|mūlus|t=mule]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably, like Greek ''múklos'' “pack ass”, a loanword from a language of Asia Minor.^(Etymonline) The unrelated ''mule'' “slipper” is [[bor|frm|mule]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[la|mulleus|t=red shoe worn by Roman magistrates]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The offspring of a male donkey and a mare (c. 1000).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Though the mule is proverbial for obstinacy, the OED finds no good grounds for this.^(Etymonline) The word was applied to a stupid or obstinate person from about 1470,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) the sense “stubborn” being established by the 18th century.^(Etymonline) It was used of hybrids in general,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) and of Samuel Crompton's spinning machine (''mule-jenny'', 1788), a “hybrid” of the machines of Arkwright and Hargreaves.^(Etymonline) In 20th-century slang a ''mule'' is a person who smuggles drugs (1935).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The slipper ''mule'' dates from 1562.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – the animal.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1470 – a stupid or obstinate person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1562 – a kind of slipper.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1788 – ''mule-jenny'', a spinning machine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1935 – US slang, a drug courier.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The usually sterile [[hybrid]] offspring of a male [[donkey]] and a female [[horse]], with long ears and a short mane, valued as a work animal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Any sterile hybrid, as between a canary and another bird, or between plants.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A very stubborn person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A spinning machine that draws and twists fibres into yarn.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A small tractor or locomotive for hauling over short distances.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(slang)'' A person who carries or smuggles illegal drugs.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A slipper or shoe without a back or heel strap.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[muleteer]]

+ * [[mulish]]

+ * [[mule deer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hinny]]

+ * [[donkey]]

+ * [[mullet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}