Mole

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /məʊl/

Definitions

1. A small burrowing mammal known for its velvety fur and powerful forelimbs, a skin blemish typically darker than surrounding skin, and a unit of measurement in chemistry reflecting Avogadro's number are distinct meanings of this term
2. This term refers to a burrowing animal recognized for its digging abilities, a dark spot or mark on the skin, and a scientific term used to denote a specific quantity of substance
3. A burrowing mammal distinguished by its velvety coat and strong forelimbs, a pigmented spot on the skin that can indicate various conditions, and a unit measuring the amount of substance in chemistry describe this concept

Etymology: The mole that tunnels under lawns and the mole on your skin are not as unrelated as they seem. The skin blemish came first in English: Old English "māl" meant a spot, mark or blemish, a sense that survives in Scots "mail" (stain) and Gothic "mail" (blemish), all descending from a Germanic root meaning a spot or wrinkle. The animal name is a separate word, from a Germanic base linked to "mulaz", a word for mole or salamander, and related to German "Molch" (newt). Its ancestors were probably named for the earth it dug up and for its creeping, slug-like movement, not for any blemish. The two words eventually merged in English. Middle English had "molle" and "molde" for the animal, and "mole" for the spot, and by the time of modern spelling the forms had collided. The skin sense is therefore not the source of the animal name, though the coincidence of spelling has made it easy to assume so.

Synonyms: blemish, spot, mark, growth, tumor