English
mule
Mule may come from Middle English mule.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500muleuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1789same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500muleuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1789same form
Earliest quotation: 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants: “Vegetable mules supply an irrefragable argument in favour of…”
Every English word from Middle English mule
Another origin of mule
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*melh₂-‘dark, black’uncertain
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mélans‘black’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέλαςmélas‘dark in color’uncertain
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμύλλοςmúllos‘a kind of fish brought salted from the Black Sea’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūllus‘red mullet’uncertain
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmulleus‘of a red color’uncertain
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500mula‘slipper, shoe with a thick sole’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mule‘backless slipper’
- Englishtodaysame form
Today it means
noun The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English mule / mule