mole

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English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl (a mole, spot, mark, blemish), from Proto-West Germanic *mail, from Proto-Germanic *mailą (spot, wrinkle), from Proto-Indo-European *mel-, *melw- (dark, dirty), from Proto-Indo-European *mey-, *my- (to soil, sully).

Cognate with Scots mail (spot, stain), Saterland Frisian Moal (scar), German dialectal Meil (spot, stain, blemish), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌻 (mail, spot, blemish).

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (plural moles)

  1. A naevus, a pigmented, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy spot on the skin.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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From Middle English molle (mole), molde, mole, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mulaz, *mulhaz (mole, salamander), from Proto-Indo-European *molg-, *molk- (slug, salamander), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)melw- (to grind, crush, beat).

Cognate with North Frisian mull (mole), Saterland Frisian molle (mole), Dutch mol (mole), Low German Mol, Mul (mole), German Molch (salamander, newt), Old Russian смолжь (smolžʹ, snail), Czech mlž (clam).

Derivation as an abbreviation of Middle English molewarpe, a variation of moldewarpe, moldwerp (mole) in Middle English is unexplained and probably unlikely due to the simultaneous occurrence of both words. See mouldwarp.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (plural moles)

A mole (animal)
A mole (excavator)
  1. Any of several small, burrowing insectivores of the family Talpidae; also any of southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae (golden moles) and any of several Australian mammals in the family Notoryctidae (marsupial moles), similar to but not closely related to Talpidae moles.
  2. Any of the burrowing rodents also called mole-rats.
  3. (espionage) An internal spy, a person who involves themself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.
  4. A kind of self-propelled excavator used to form underground drains, or to clear underground pipelines.
  5. A type of underground drain used in farm fields, in which a mole plow creates an unlined channel through clay subsoil.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From moll (from Moll, an archaic nickname for Mary), influenced by the spelling of the word mole (an internal spy), and due to /mɒl/ and /məʊl/ merging as in the Australian accent.

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (plural moles)

  1. (slang, derogatory, chiefly Australia and New Zealand) A moll, a bitch, a slut.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 4

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From French môle or Latin mōles (mass, heap, rock).

the remains of a mole at Dunkirk

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (plural moles)

  1. (nautical) A massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater or junction between places separated by water.[1]
    • 1847, George A. Fisk, A pastor's memorial of the holy land:
      [Alexander the Great] then conceived the stupendous idea of constructing a mole, which should at once connect with the main land; and this was actually accomplished by driving piles and pouring in incalculable quantities of soil and fragments of rock; and it is generally believed, partly on the authority of ancient authors, that the whole ruins of Old Tyre were absorbed in this vast enterprize, and buried in the depths of the sea [...]
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:
      Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land.
    • 1983, Archibald Lyall, Arthur Norman Brangham, The companion guide to the south of France:
      [about Saint-Tropez] Yachts and fishing boats fill the little square of water, which is surrounded on two sides by quays, on the third by a small ship-repairing yard and on the fourth by the mole where the fishing boats moor and the nets are spread out to dry.
  2. (rare) A haven or harbour, protected with such a breakwater.
  3. (historical) An Ancient Roman mausoleum.
Translations

Etymology 5

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Calqued from German Mol; spelled as if it had come directly from molecule or Latin moles (the ultimate source of Mol and molecule in any event).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (plural moles)

  1. (chemistry, physics) In the International System of Units, the base unit of amount of substance; the amount of substance of a system which contains exactly 6.02214076×1023 elementary entities (atoms, ions, molecules, etc.). Symbol: mol. The number of atoms is known as Avogadro’s number.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 6

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In English since before the 20th century. From French môle f, from Latin mola (millstone), because it is a hardened mass.

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (plural moles)

  1. A hemorrhagic mass of tissue in the uterus caused by a dead ovum.
Translations

Etymology 7

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From Spanish mole, from Classical Nahuatl mōlli (sauce; stew; something ground).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

mole (countable and uncountable, plural moles)

chicken in a red mole sauce, with rice on the side
  1. One of several spicy sauces typical of the cuisine of Mexico and neighboring Central America, especially a sauce which contains chocolate and which is used in cooking main dishes, not desserts.[2]
Translations

References

  1. ^ mole (accessed: March 30, 2007)
  2. ^ mole (accessed: March 30, 2007)

Anagrams

Central Franconian

Etymology

From Old High German mālōn, mālēn, denominative of māl (spot, stain), from Proto-West Germanic *mālijan, from Proto-Germanic *mēlijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (dark color).

Pronunciation

Verb

mole (third-person singular present molt, past participle jemolt)

  1. (most dialects) to paint, draw, depict

See also

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish moler (to grind).

Verb

molé

  1. to mill; to grind

Danish

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Etymology

From French môle.

Pronunciation

Noun

mole c (singular definite molen, plural indefinite moler)

  1. mole, breakwater
  2. pier, jetty

Inflection

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Adverb

mole

  1. softly

Antonyms

French

Etymology

Borrowed from German Mol.

Pronunciation

Noun

mole f (plural moles)

  1. (chemistry, physics) mole

Further reading

Galician

Verb

mole

  1. third-person singular present indicative of mulir

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɔ.le/
  • Rhymes: -ɔle
  • Hyphenation: mò‧le

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Mol.

Noun

mole f (plural moli)

  1. (chemistry, physics) mole
    Synonym: grammo-molecola
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

mole

  1. plural of mola

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology 1

Verb

mole

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of molō

Etymology 2

Noun

mōle f

  1. ablative singular of mōlēs

Lower Sorbian

Noun

mole

  1. Superseded spelling of móle.

Middle English

Noun

mole

  1. Alternative form of molle (mole)

Polish

Pronunciation

Noun

mole m animal

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of mól

Noun

mole m inan

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of mol

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

  • Hyphenation: mo‧le

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese mole, from Latin mollis, earlier *molduis, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus (soft, weak).

Adjective

mole m or f (plural moles, comparable, comparative mais mole, superlative o mais mole or molíssimo, diminutive molinho, augmentative molão)

  1. soft
  2. (informal) easy
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin mōlēs. Doublet of , an inheritance.

Noun

mole f (plural moles)

  1. mass

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

mole f (plural moles)

  1. Portugal form of mol (unit of amount)

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

mole m (plural moles)

  1. Alternative form of molhe (breakwater)

Further reading

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

mole (Cyrillic spelling моле)

  1. third-person plural present of moliti

Spanish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin mollis. Doublet of muelle.

Adjective

mole m or f (masculine and feminine plural moles)

  1. soft, mild
    Synonym: muelle

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin mōlēs.

Noun

mole f (plural moles)

  1. hunk, chunk, slab (thing of large size or quantity)
    • 2021 January 2, Claudi Pérez, “Salvador Illa: el triunfo de la sobriedad”, in El País:
      En la sede del Ministerio de Sanidad, una mole racionalista con forma de cubo, María Luisa Carcedo procede al traspaso de carteras.
      At the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, a rationalist cube-shaped hunk, María Luisa Carcedo proceeds to the transfer of portfolios.
  2. massiveness

Etymology 3

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl mōlli (sauce, something ground).

Noun

mole m (plural moles)

  1. (Mexico) mole, a type of stew
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Verb

mole

  1. inflection of molar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

Zayse-Zergulla

Noun

mole

  1. fish

References

  • Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 397, →ISBN: “Zayse mo'le”
  • Linda Jordan, A study of Shara and related Ometo speech varieties (Zergulla mòlɛ́)