mouse

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small furry animal with a pointed nose, small ears and a long thin tail.

   I spotted a mouse running through the garden.

2. 2
   noun

   A small hand-held device you move on a surface to control the pointer on a computer screen.

   I used my mouse to move the cursor on the screen.

3. 3
   noun

   A very quiet or shy person.

   I'm a mouse at parties; I'd rather be at home.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Mouse is an Old English word whose Germanic relatives include Dutch muis and German Maus; these share an ancient ancestor with Latin and Greek mus. Its basic meaning, “small rodent,” has remained stable. The computing sense arose in the 1960s from the device's small body and its original tail-like cord.

From Middle English mous, from Old English mūs, from Proto-West Germanic *mūs, from Proto-Germanic *mūs, from Proto-Indo-European *múHs. Cognates Germanic cognates include Old Frisian mūs, Old Saxon mūs (German Low German Muus), Dutch muis, Old High German mūs (German Maus), Old Norse mús (Swedish mus, Danish mus, Norwegian mus, Icelandic mús, Faroese mús). Indo-European cognates include Ancient Greek μῦς (mûs), Latin mūs, Spanish mur, Armenian մուկ (muk), Old Church Slavonic мꙑшь (myšĭ) (Russian мышь (myšʹ)), Albanian mi, Persian موش (muš), Northern Kurdish mişk, Sanskrit मूष् (mūṣ). The comp…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
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