mula Latin · revision 7574

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la mūlus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmuː.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmuː.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mūla''' ''f'' (genitive mūlae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the feminine of [[mūlus]] “mule”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Etymonline derives ⟨mūlus⟩ from Proto-Italic ⟨*musklo-⟩, probably a loanword, like [[grc|μυκλός|tr=muklós|t=pack mule]].^(Etymonline) Late writers have the dative and ablative plural ⟨mūlābus⟩.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010) Cicero also uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a she-mule, and in general a mule used for carriages and litters, as Pliny the Elder's mule born of an ass and a mare.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Cicero and Juvenal also use it.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a mule.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ''mula'' and French ''mule''.^(Wiktionary) With ''mūlus'' it gave Old English ''mul'' and Old French ''mule'', whence [[en|mule]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a mule.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder explains its breeding.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A she-[[m|en|mule]]; a mule.^(OLD 2012)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[muscella]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mūlus]]

+ * [[en|mule]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}