mob English · revision 10455

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1688|origins=la mobile vulgus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɒb/, /mɑb/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a slang shortening of mobile, the common people, the rabble (1676, the 1670s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) probably with a conscious play on [[nobility]],^(Etymonline) from Latin mōbile vulgus, the fickle common people,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from mōbile, the neuter of mōbilis, fickle, movable (see [[mobile]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A disorderly crowd, the rabble: 1688.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Also from the 1680s it was used of any promiscuous gathering of people,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the common mass of people from 1691.^(OED 1989) A flock or herd of animals is Australian from 1836,^(OED 1989) and in Australia and New Zealand mob is used without disparagement for a crowd.^(Etymonline) A gang of thieves or pickpockets is from 1839,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and in American English organized crime in general from 1927.^(Etymonline) The verb, to crowd round and attack or beset, is from 1709.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Mobster'' is from 1917.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1676 – mobile, the rabble.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1688 – a disorderly crowd.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1709 – to mob (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1836 – a flock (Australia).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1839 – a gang of thieves.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1917 – mobster.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1927 – organized crime.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large, disorderly or violent [[crowd]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The mass of common people; the populace.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A gang of criminals, or organized crime: ''the Mob''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Australia, New Zealand)'' A flock or herd of animals.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To crowd round and jostle, in anger or admiration.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To attack in large numbers.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mobbish]]

+ * [[mobbishly]]

+ * [[mobber]]

+ * [[mobbishness]]

+ * [[mobbism]]

+ * [[moble]]

+ * [[mobocracy]]

+ * [[mobster]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mobile]]

+ * [[rabble]]

+ * [[mobility]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different mob, a loose woman and later a woman's indoor cap (the mob-cap), is a variant of mab, short for Mabel.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) In Shetland a mob of whales was a school.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}