Mustangs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A breed of horse known for its wild ancestry and agility, often associated with freedom and the American West
2. A term for a group of these horses, commonly found in North America, that live in herds in the wild
3. A name used to describe a type of high-performance car inspired by the spirit of these horses, symbolizing speed and strength

Etymology: "Mustangs" is the plural of "mustang," which entered English from Mexican Spanish "mestengo," a word for a stray or unbranded animal running wild on the open range. Its deeper source is Old Spanish "mesteño," meaning feral animal, and the word traces back to "mesta," a medieval Castilian livestock-owners' association, whose name in turn came from "mixta," the Latin for "mixed." Those roots reflect the earlier sense of animals whose ownership had become mixed up or unclear. The English word reached the American West through the Spanish colonial horse herds of New Spain, which spread north from Mexico as horses escaped or were abandoned and multiplied across the plains. Calling a horse a "mustang" was a way of naming an animal that belonged to no one in particular, and the term came to describe the free-roaming horses of the region.

Synonyms: wild horses