Etymograph

English

Mouse

Mouse comes from German Maus ‘mouse (animal)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *múHs.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*múHsreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mūsreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050mūs
  5. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350same form
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentMaus‘mouse (animal)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2001Mouse

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*múHsreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mūsreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050mūs
  5. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350same form
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentMaus‘mouse (animal)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2001Mouse

Earliest quotation: 2001, Richard E. Foglesong, Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando: “At Disney, on the other hand, there was only…”

The story

The surname is sometimes an Americanized spelling of German Maus. The metonym for Disney comes from its icon Mickey Mouse.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *múHs

muscle, murine, myelin, musculature, mussel, myocardium, 17 more

through Proto-Germanic *mūs

mice, 2 more

Today it means

name The Walt Disney Company.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *múHs / Mouse

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