mule

See also: Mule, mulé, mûle, and m̧uļe

English

a mule

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English (reinforced by Anglo-Norman mul (masculine), mule (feminine)), from Old English mūl, all from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós (compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”)).

Noun

mule (plural mules)

  1. A generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
  2. A generally sterile hybrid offspring of any two species of animals.
  3. A hybrid plant.
  4. (informal) A stubborn person.
  5. (slang) A person paid to smuggle drugs.
  6. (numismatics) A coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece, either intentionally or in error.
  7. (role-playing games) A MMORPG character, or NPC companion in a tabletop RPG, used mainly to store extra inventory for the owner's primary character.
    • 2007, David L. McClard, Verotopia Online: The MMORPG of the Century, Xlibris (2007), →ISBN, page 89:
      He was in the middle of organizing his massive stash of rare and exquisite bounty, all kept safely in the inventory cache of a mule, an entirely separate character which he paid a monthly fee to maintain exclusively for that purpose.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:mule.
  8. Any of a group of cocktails involving ginger ale or ginger beer, citrus juice, and various liquors.
Synonyms
  • See also Thesaurus:stubborn person
Derived terms
Translations
See also

Verb

mule (third-person singular simple present mules, present participle muling, simple past and past participle muled)

  1. (transitive, slang) To smuggle (illegal drugs).
    • 2000, Arturo Longoria, Keepers of the Wilderness
      There are many drug lords, each with his own corridor (think of it as a franchise of sorts) funneling narcotics into Texas. There are multifold methods of transport. The old, and still viable, way is to "mule" it across the Rio Grande in a small boat.
    • 2004, William Glenn, The Sailor's Death
      Thornton was supposed to mule it back to the States from one of the ports he stopped in, give it to Maxwell and Ames, and get the second half of a quarter-million.

Etymology 2

From Middle French mule (“slipper”), from Latin mulleus calceus (“red shoe”), from mullus (“red”).

Noun

mule (plural mules)

  1. A shoe that has no fitting or strap around the heel, but which covers the foot.
    • 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, “First Tenant,”
      The bride was a shocking housekeeper and dragged round all day in boudoir cap, frowsy negligee and mules—slip, slop, slip, slop.
Translations

Danish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /muːlə/, [ˈmuːlə]

Noun

mule c (singular definite mulen, plural indefinite muler)

  1. muzzle

Inflection

Verb

mule (imperative mul, infinitive at mule, present tense muler, past tense mulede, perfect tense har mulet)

  1. pommel, pummel, pound, lick
  2. sulk

Synonyms

French

Noun

mule f (plural mules)

  1. mule (animal)
  2. mule (footwear)

Italian

Noun

mule f

  1. plural of mula

Anagrams

Latin

Noun

mūle

  1. vocative singular of mūlus

References

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmulɛ/, [ˈmulə]

Noun

mule

  1. nominative and accusative plural of mul
  2. inflection of mula:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative and accusative plural

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse múli, from Proto-Germanic *mūlô.

Noun

mūle m

  1. muzzle

Declension

Descendants

Polish

Noun

mule

  1. locative singular of muł
  2. vocative singular of muł

Noun

mule

  1. nominative plural of mul
  2. accusative plural of mul
  3. vocative plural of mul

Noun

mule

  1. nominative plural of mula
  2. accusative plural of mula
  3. vocative plural of mula

Adjective

mule

  1. neuter singular of muli
  2. neuter plural of muli
  3. feminine plural of muli
  4. non-personal masculine plural of muli

Volapük

Noun

mule

  1. dative singular of mul
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