mice

Noun

plural of mouse

Verb

To be distracted or inattentive (possibly alluding to a cat being distracted by a mouse).

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mouse

• Noun
• Verb

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Pronounced as (IPA)

/maɪs/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: mys

Inherited from Old English: mȳs

Cognate with Scots: mice

Cognate with Western Frisian: mûzen

Cognate with Dutch: muizen

Cognate with German: Mäuse

Cognate with Swedish: möss

Cognate with Faroese: mýs

Cognate with Icelandic: mýs

In summary

From Middle English mys, mice, muis, mise, mis, from Old English mȳs (“mice”), from an umlauted form of Proto-Germanic *mūsiz (“mice”), nominative and vocative plural of Proto-Germanic *mūs (“mouse”). Compare Scots mice, mise, myse, myce (“mice”), West Frisian mûzen (“mice”), Dutch muizen (“mice”), German Mäuse (“mice”), Swedish möss (“mice”), Faroese mýs (“mice”), Icelandic mýs (“mice”). More at mouse.

Synonyms

mouse

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apodemus

mus