Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps the reflex of an unattested Old English word (without i-mutation) cognate with Old English myl (see below); perhaps a loan from one of the continental Germanic cognates of this word (see below); or perhaps < moll adj. and n.¹ or its French and Latin etymons (compare use as noun of classical Latin mollis ). Compare mull v.¹ and slightly earlier mullock n.With sense 2 compare earlier mull v.¹ 3b. Compare Old English myl dust, mould:OE Arundel Psalter xliii. 25 Humiliata est in puluere anima nostra: geeadmodod is on dust uel on myl sawle ure.OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) 14 (table of contents) Ðæt þære ylcan stowe myl wið fyre wæs freomigende.lOE Canterbury Psalter cii. 14 Memento domine quod pulvis sumus: geminde drihten þet dust myl ic eom. Old English myl is cognate with Middle Dutch mul , mol , mil , mulle (Dutch mul ) mould, dust, Middle Low German mül dust (German regional (Low German) Mull dust, rubbish, Müll rubbish), Old High German mulli (11th cent.; Middle High German mulle , mul dust, rubbish, German Müll rubbish), Old Icelandic moli crumb, also Old High German mullan , mulen , muillen (Middle High German müllen , müln to crush, to grind), Old Icelandic molna (intransitive) to crumble into dust, mylja (past tense mulði ) to shiver, crush < an ablaut variant of the Indo-European base of meal n.¹ (compare mould n.¹).

Etymology: Probably partly < Scottish Gaelic maol bare hill, brow of a hill, promontory, use as noun of maol bald, bare (see moil adj.), and partly < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic múli , Faroese múli , Norwegian (Nynorsk) mule , all in sense ‘headland, promontory’, extended use of an early Scandinavian word meaning ‘snout, muzzle’ (see Scandinavian forms cited s.v. mull n.⁴; with the sense development compare ness n.¹). In Orkney and Shetland use < the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by the Scandinavian forms listed above.Frequently in descriptive place names, which cannot easily be distinguished from contextual uses. Also in descriptive place names in texts of other languages before the 18th cent. as e.g. moel, mull, etc.

Etymology: < Dutch mul (feminine) madder, perhaps cognate with mul (neuter and feminine) mould, dust (see mull n.¹). N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (mɒl) /mʌl/.

Etymology: Probably the reflex of a borrowing < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic múli, Norwegian mule, Old Swedish mule (Swedish mule), Danish mule, all in sense ‘muzzle, snout’; compare also Swedish regional mulla female genitals), cognate with Old Frisian mūla muzzle, mouth (West Frisian mûle mouth), Middle Dutch mule, muyle muzzle, mouth of an animal (Dutch muil), Middle Low German mūle, mūl muzzle, mouth of an animal, Old High German mūla muzzle, mouth of an animal (Middle High German mūl, German Maul), Gothic -muljan (in faurmuljan to muzzle), and probably further with Hellenistic Greek μύλλον lip, μυλλός cake in shape of female genitals, Byzantine Greek μυλλᾶν to distort the mouth, mock < an extended form of the Indo-European base of ancient Greek μύειν, ultimately of imitative origin. In Orkney and Shetland use via the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by the Scandinavian forms listed above.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Compare earlier muley n.¹, and later moil n.³, moiley n.

Etymology: Shortened < mulmul n.

Etymology: Originally a Scots variant of mill n.¹ (compare sense 3c s.v.), now distinguished in form in the senses below.

Etymology: Shortened < mulligatawny n.In quot. 1816 perhaps simply a graphic abbreviation.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps shortened < mullock n., or perhaps an alteration of muddle n. Perhaps compare mull n.¹ Compare later mull v.⁴ 2. Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Mull n.⁵ records an earlier (1777 in a manuscript from Devon) compound use of the word in mull-head a dull, stupid fellow (compare mullet-head n. 1, muddlehead n.). N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (mɒl) /mʌl/.

Etymology: < Danish muld (see mould n.¹; adopted in this spec. sense by P. E. Müller 1879, in Tidsskrift for Skovbrug 3 7). Compare mull n.¹

Etymology: < mull v.² Compare earlier mulled adj.¹

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps < mull n.¹ (compare possible parallels in other Germanic languages cited s.v.), or perhaps a variant of moil v. or independently < its Anglo-Norman, Old French, and post-classical Latin etymons. It is possible that senses 1, 2, and 3 do not show the same word. Sense 4 is of uncertain interpretation (see note below), and may show a distinct word. Compare also mull v.², mull v.⁶

Etymology: Origin unknown.Various theories have been advanced as to the origin of this word. It has been suggested that the verb is < either mull n.¹ or mull v.¹ 3, referring to the powdered spices used in mulling; but there is no evidence of such a specific use of the noun or verb. Another conjecture is that the original sense may have been ‘to soften, render mild’ (compare later mull v.¹ 4, and perhaps also mull v.⁶); however, the earliest examples seem to imply that the primary sense of the word is ‘to heat’ (see e.g. quots. a1625, c1640). For an alternative etymology deriving the word from Dutch mol denoting a type of beer see J. F. Bense Dict. Low-Dutch Element in Eng. Vocab. (1939) 236. Alternatively perhaps compare classical Latin mulsa , mulsum mulse n. The once-popular theory ( N.E.D. (1908) notes that it ‘appears in all recent dictionaries’) that mulled ale is a corrupt form of mouldale n. is almost certainly mistaken.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps partly < Hindi malnā to rub down, massage (energetically rather than soothingly), and partly a use of English regional mull (perhaps a developed sense of mull v.¹ 3):1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Mull, to..rub round and round. ‘Mulling his knee.’ ‘That child mulls his tongue.’ N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (mɒl) /mʌl/.

Etymology: In sense 2 apparently < the related mull n.⁹ The development of the other senses is unclear; it is possible that senses 1, 2, and 3 are of separate origin. With sense 1 perhaps compare Dutch meulen to think (something) over, to ruminate (17th cent.), and Dutch regional mullen to doze (see further J. F. Bense Dict. Low-Dutch Element in Eng. Vocab. (1939) 236), or perhaps compare mull v.² or mull v.⁶ With senses 1a, 1b, and 1c compare later mill v.¹ 17. With sense 3a compare mullock v.

Etymology: Back-formation < muller n.¹ Compare mulled adj.³ N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (mɒl) /mʌl/.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps a specific sense development of mull v.¹