mule

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See also: Mule, mulé, Mulè, mûle, m̧uļe, and mulę

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
a mule

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule and Old English mūl, both 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”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).

Noun

mule (plural mules)

  2. The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
    • 2017, Robert S. McPherson, Cowboying In Canyon Country, Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 200:
      One day he ran into a herd of a half dozen elk, so he rode his mule down the canyon three or four miles, leaving the sheep alone.
  3. The generally sterile hybrid offspring of any two species of animals.
    • 1922, Onnie Warren Smith, The Book of the Pike, page 187:
      It would be exceedingly interesting to know if the hybrid would reproduce, a matter I deem exceedingly doubtful, for the chances are it would prove a "mule" (infertile).
  4. (now rare) A hybrid plant.
    • 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 149:
      Vegetable mules supply an irrefragable argument in favour of the sexual system of botany.
    • 1837, William Herbert, Amaryllidaceæ: Preceded by an Attempt to Arrange the Monocotyledonous Orders, and Followed by a Treatise on Cross-bred Vegetables, and Supplement, page 353:
      The most extraordinary mule, however, that is asserted to have been produced on the Continent, is a cross between the cabbage and horse-radish, which Monsieur Sageret reports that he has obtained […]
  5. (informal) A stubborn person.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stubborn person
    • 2005, Dorothea Benton Frank, Isle of Palms, Penguin, →ISBN:
      "Where in the hell do you think I learned to be such a mule?”
  6. (slang) A person paid to smuggle drugs.
    • 2006, “Gastroenterology: Esophageal Foreign Bodies”, in Steven E. Diaz, The Little Black Book of Emergency Medicine (Jones and Bartlett's Little Black Book Series), 2nd edition, Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, page 101:
      Cocaine packet ingestion (these patients referred to as “mules”) may warrant surgery, Golytely or expectant passage.
    • 2007, Thomas G. Blacklock, Safe Zone: A Novel Approach to the Drug War, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 44:
      “Yeah, in Denver, we know about Uriarte's involvement in meth. Our Las Cruces office seized over six hundred pounds of methamphetamine from two of his mules last year.”
  7. (numismatics) A coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece, either intentionally or in error.
    • 1988, Andrew Burnett, The Normanby hoard and other Roman coin hoards, British Museum Publications:
      What is less clear, however, is why mint workers should have chosen to produce mules, if they were making forgeries […]
  8. (roleplaying 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, →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 quotations using this term, see Citations:mule.
  9. Any of a group of cocktails involving ginger ale or ginger beer, citrus juice, and various liquors.
  10. (sailing) A kind of triangular sail for a yacht.
    • 1974, Yachting, volume 135, page 60:
      In heavier seas where a boat must sail a course dictated by waves, or where wave action makes power more important than pointing, the mule will prove the faster sail.
  11. A kind of cotton-spinning machine.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Hawaiian: miula
  • → Irish: miúil
  • → Maori: miūru
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

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
17th-century mule slipper
21st-century mule pump with a wedge heel

From Middle French mule (“backless slipper”), from Medieval Latin mula (“slipper, shoe with a thick sole”), presumably from classical Latin mulleus, the dyed shoe of either the patricians or senators, from mūllus (“red mullet”) + -eus (“-y: forming adjectives”), from Ancient Greek μύλλος (múllos).

Noun

mule (plural mules)

  2. Any shoe with an upper covering the front of the foot but without a back flap or strap, leaving the heel exposed.
    • 1944, Emily Carr, “First Tenant”, in The House of All Sorts‎:
      The bride was a shocking housekeeper and dragged round all day in boudoir cap, frowsy negligee and mules—slip, slop, slip, slop.
    • 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 29:
      Routine dress for Tuesday will be bra and panties with high-heel satin mules.
Translations

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps borrowed from Dutch smuilen.

Verb

mule

  1. to smile
    Kalu dia bicara salalu mule.
    Every time he talks he smiles.

Noun

mule

  1. smile

References

  • D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎, Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Danish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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

Noun

mule c (singular definite mulen, plural indefinite muler)

  1. muzzle
Inflection
Declension of mule
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative mule mulen muler mulerne
genitive mules mulens mulers mulernes

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

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

Etymology

Inherited from Old French mule, from Latin mūla, feminine of mūlus.

Pronunciation

Noun

mule f (plural mules)

  1. mule (animal)
  2. mule (footwear)
  3. mule (for drug smuggling)
    Synonym: bouletteux

Derived terms

Further reading

Galician

Verb

mule

  1. second-person singular imperative of mulir
  2. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of mulir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmu.le/
  • Rhymes: -ule
  • Hyphenation: mù‧le

Noun

mule f

  1. plural of mula

Anagrams

Latin

Noun

mūle

  1. vocative singular of mūlus

References

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

Noun

mule

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

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman mule, from Latin mūla, feminine of mūlus; reinforced by native Old English mūl, from the same Latin source.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

mule (plural mules)

  1. mule (donkey-horse hybrid)
  2. (rare) hinny
  3. (rare) idiot
Descendants
References

Etymology 2

Noun

mule

  1. Alternative form of mylne

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

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

Noun

mule m (definite singular mulen, indefinite plural muler, definite plural mulene)

  1. muzzle

References

Anagrams

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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

Noun

mule m (definite singular mulen, indefinite plural mular, definite plural mulane)

  1. muzzle
Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse múli, from Proto-Germanic *mūlô. The verb is derived from the noun.

Verb

mule (present tense mular, past tense mula, past participle mula, passive infinitive mulast, present participle mulande, imperative mule/mul)

  1. (intransitive) to pout

References

Etymology 3

Adjective

mule

  1. (eye dialect spelling, Trøndelag) Alternative form of mogeleg (“possible”)

Anagrams

Old Swedish

Etymology

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

Noun

mūle m

  1. muzzle

Declension

Declension of mūle (an-stem)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative mūle mūlen mūlar mūlarnir
accusative mūla mūlan mūla mūlana
dative mūla mūlanom mūlom mūlonom
genitive mūla mūlans mūla mūlanna

Descendants

Polish

Pronunciation

Noun

mule

  1. locative/vocative singular of muł

Noun

mule

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of mul

Noun

mule

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of mula

Adjective

mule

  1. inflection of muli:
    1. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular
    2. nonvirile nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Further reading

  • mule in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
en mule på en häst

Noun

mule c

  1. a rhinarium (of an ungulate, like a cow, horse, or reindeer – the front of the upper lip, which is moist in cows and dry in horses and is usually either hairless or has a different type of hair compared to the rest of the muzzle)
    1. (closer in tone, as "mule" is not a technical-sounding word) a nose, a muzzle, tip of the snout
      • 1949, “Rudolf med röda mulen [Rudolf with the red nose]”, Eric Sandström (lyrics), Johnny Marks (music):
        Rudolf med röda mulen, hette en helt vanlig ren, som blivit kall om mulen, därav kom dess röda sken. Rudolf fick alltid höra: "Se, han har sitt dimljus på!" Att han blev led åt detta, är en sak man kan förstå. Men en mörk julaftonskväll, tomtefar han sa: "Vill du inte Rudolf, säg, med din mule lysa mig?" Allt sen den dagen renen, tomtens egen släde drar. Rudolf med röda mulen, lyser väg åt tomtefar.
        Rudolf with the red nose, was the name of a ordinary reindeer, who had gotten a cold nose , thence came its red glow. Rudolf always got to hear: "Look, he has his fog light on!" That he got tired of this, is something one can understand. But one dark Christmas Eve night, Santa Claus, he said: "Don't you want to, Rudolf, say, with your nose, light my way ?" Ever since that day the reindeer, Santa's own sleigh pulls. Rudolf with the red nose, lights Santa Claus's way .
      • 1962, Gullan Bornemark (lyrics and music), “Min ponny [My pony]”, in Gumman i lådan ["Jill in the box" (see gubben i lådan and gumma)]:
        På fyra ben går den som jag gillar allra bäst. Gillar, gillar, gillar allra mest. Jag sitter på hans rygg för det är min lilla häst. Är min lilla häst. Vad du är söt, min kära lilla ponny. Vad du är snäll, min kära lilla häst. Du säger ingenting, min kära lilla ponny, men du är den jag gillar bäst! Se pälsen den är svart liksom kappan på en präst. Kappan, kappan, kappan på en präst. En mule mjuk som sammet, det har min lilla häst. Har min lilla häst. Vad du är ... [as before]. Min ponny vet så väl att på lördag är det fest. Lördag, lördag, lördag är det fest. En krubba full med havre, det får min lilla häst. Får min lilla häst. Vad du är ... [as before]. Av allting här i världen, jag önskar allra mest – önskar, önskar, önskar allra mest – att aldrig jag ska skiljas ifrån min lilla häst. Från min lilla häst. Vad du är söt ... [as before]
        On four legs walks the one that I like the very most . Like the, like the, like the very most. I sit on his back because it is my little horse. Is my little horse. How cute you are, my dear little pony. How kind you are, my dear little horse. You don't say anything , my dear little pony, but you're the one I like the most ! Look, the coat is black like the coat of a priest. The coat, the coat, the coat of a priest. A nose as soft as velvet, has my little horse. Has my little horse. How cute you ... . My pony knows so well that on Saturday there is a party . Saturday, Saturday, Saturday there is a party. A manger full of oats, gets my little horse. Gets my little horse. How cute you ... . Out of everything in the world, I wish the very most – wish the, wish the, wish the very most – that never I shall be parted from my little horse . From my little horse. How cute you ...

Declension

Declension of mule 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative mule mulen mular mularna
Genitive mules mulens mulars mularnas

See also

References

Volapük

Noun

mule

  1. dative singular of mul
Wikious
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