mouse English · revision 6052

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 700|origins=ine-pro *muh₂s}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /maʊs/; verb also /maʊz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English mous, [[inh|ang|mūs]] (plural mȳs),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*mūs]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which is also the source of [[osx|mūs]], [[nl|muis]], [[goh|mūs]] (German Maus) and [[non|mús]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) It is the old Indo-European name of the animal, PIE [[ine-pro|*mūs]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) kept in [[la|mūs]], [[grc|μῦς|tr=mûs|t=mouse, muscle]], [[cu|мꙑшь|tr=myšĭ]] and [[sa|मूष्|tr=mūṣ]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad derives it from a base also meaning “to steal”,^(Hoad 1986) and MWU suggests a link with Latin [[m|la|movēre|t=to move]].^(MWU 2024) The plural [[mice]] shows i-mutation.^(Etymonline) Old English mūs also meant the muscle of the arm (compare [[muscle]]).^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English mūs, before 700;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) as a surname it appears as Muse in 1154–63 and Mous about 1280.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that the essential meaning, a small rodent, has never changed.^(Cresswell 2021) The name was applied popularly to small animals of other genera from early on,^(OED 1989) and a mouse as the type of something timid or weak is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) It has been contrasted with man since the 1620s, as in ''neither man nor mouse'',^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''are you a man or a mouse?'' is from the mid-16th century in Word Origins.^(Cresswell 2021) Burns's poem “To a Mouse” (1786) gave the line about the best-laid schemes of mice and men.^(Cresswell 2021) A black eye or other discoloured lump is attested by 1842,^(Etymonline) and the word was used for mouse-shaped devices, mainly at sea, from 1750.^(Etymonline) The computer mouse is from 1965,^(Etymonline) so called from its small size and, in the first designs, a cord like a tail.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, to hunt mice, is from the mid-13th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) probably about 1150 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) [[mousetrap|alt=Mousetrap]] is from about 1475.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 700 – Old English mūs.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-13th century – to hunt mice.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – a type of timidity.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1475 – mousetrap.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1786 – Burns's “To a Mouse”.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1842 – a black eye.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1965 – a computer mouse.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small [[rodent]] with a pointed snout, rounded ears and a long, thin tail.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A shy, quiet or timid person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A hand-held device moved over a flat surface to control a [[cursor]] on a screen.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A [[black eye]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To hunt or catch mice, as a cat or owl does.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To search or move about quietly; to prowl.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mouselike]]

+ * [[mouser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[muscle]]

+ * [[mussel]]

+ * [[mice]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}