Moke

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A donkey, especially one regarded as slow or stubborn ; a person viewed with contempt or disdain ; a small horse or pony of poor quality
2. A beast of burden resembling a horse but smaller and more obstinate ; someone held in low regard or treated dismissively ; an inferior or undersized equine
3. A stubborn donkey ; a contemptible or foolish individual ; a diminutive or inferior horse

Etymology: "Moke" has two unrelated histories, and the one that sounds most like a joke is the one with a real source. In the 1860s, a blackface song, dance and multi-instrumental routine known as "The Lively Moke" (also called "The Musical Moke") became popular on the stage, performed by figures such as Johnny Thompson and William J. "Billy" Ashcroft. Performers of this kind came to be called mokes, and the word for a variety entertainer grew out of that act's name. The sense that most people now meet, a small donkey or a weak, unreliable horse, has a separate and much less clear background. Its origin is unknown, so no reliable ancestor word can be traced for it. The two senses share a spelling by coincidence rather than through a common root.

Synonyms: donkey, ass, burro