mule

Meaning

Noun

1. The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
2. The generally sterile hybrid offspring of any two species of animals.
3. (archaic) A hybrid plant.
4. (informal) A stubborn person.
5. (slang) A person paid to smuggle drugs.
6. A coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece, either intentionally or in error.
7. A MMORPG character, or NPC companion in a tabletop RPG, used mainly to store extra inventory for the owner's primary character.
8. Any of a group of cocktails involving ginger ale or ginger beer, citrus juice, and various liquors.
9. A kind of triangular sail for a yacht.
10. A kind of cotton-spinning machine.

Verb

To smuggle (illegal drugs).

Synonyms

donkey

🫏

horse

🐴

slipper

scuff

stubborn person

ass

🍑

groundhog

hybrid

jackass

jenny

larry

mongrel

ram

🐏

runner

🏃

street

track

truck

🚚

hound dog

spinning machine

jenny spinner

jeekus

barney

bullfrog

carrier

cobbled

courier

Translations

mulet

mulo

mula

Maultier

mulo

mule

mula

muildier

mul

mulo

katır

μουλάρι

muiltje

Maulesel

Pronounced as (IPA)

/mjuːl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: mule

Inherited from Old English: mūl

Cognate with Old Russian: мъшкъ

Cognate with German: Maul

In summary

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).