Mule

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /mjuːl/

Definitions

1. A hybrid animal produced by breeding a male donkey with a female horse, or a backless shoe or slipper that covers only the front and heel of the foot
2. A creature resulting from crossing a male donkey and a female horse, as well as a type of footwear that has no back and encloses only the toes and heel
3. This term refers to a crossbreed between a male donkey and a female horse, in addition to a style of shoe that is open at the back while securing the foot at the front

Etymology: The hybrid animal and the backless slipper share a surname of sorts. The slipper's name comes from Middle French "mule," which Medieval Latin "mula" took from classical Latin "mulleus," the dyed red shoe worn by patricians or senators. That adjective was built from "mūllus," the red mullet, the fish whose scarlet colour gave the shoe its colour. So a footwear word and a fish name are linked, while the animal word takes a separate route. The animal "mule" descends from Latin "mūlus," which came from a Proto-Indo-European root, and English received it through two channels: Old English "mūl" and Anglo-Norman "mule," the latter meaning "she-mule." The Middle English form "mule" merged these, so the modern word draws on both. Its cousins across Europe show the same pattern, such as German "Maulesel" and "Maultier," and Late Latin "muscellus," meaning "young he-mule."

Synonyms: hybrid, crossbreed, INVALID, INVALID, INVALID

Antonyms: purebred, INVALID, INVALID, INVALID, INVALID