English
mouser
Mouser comes from Middle English mousere ‘a hunter of mice’, from mous ‘mouse or shrew’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *múHs.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*múHs‘mouse’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mūs‘mouse’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘mouse’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150mūs‘mouse’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mous‘mouse or shrew’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500mousen‘to catch mice’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500mousere‘a hunter of mice’
- Englishearliest quotation 1932mouser
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*múHs‘mouse’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mūs‘mouse’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘mouse’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150mūs‘mouse’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mous‘mouse or shrew’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500mousen‘to catch mice’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500mousere‘a hunter of mice’
- Englishearliest quotation 1932mouser
Earliest quotation: 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair): “He was a pretty man, well upstanding, with great…”
Formed from mouse + -er
Proto-Indo-European *múHs
Proto-Germanic *mūs
Proto-West Germanic *mūs
Old English mūs
Middle English mous ‘mouse or shrew’
English mouse
The story
The “moustache” sense is apparently an extended usage (i.e., a cat’s whiskers, jocularly transferred to human beings), possibly with influence from moustache.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *múHs ‘mouse’
muscle, murine, myelin, musculature, mussel, myocardium, 16 more
through Proto-Germanic *mūs ‘mouse’
Today it means
noun A cat that catches mice, kept specifically for the purpose.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *múHs / mouser