mutualadj.n.
/ˈmjuːtʃʊəl/, /ˈmjuːtʃ(ᵿ)l/, /ˈmjuːtjʊəl/, /ˈmjuːtjᵿl/, U.S. /ˈmjutʃ(əw)əl/ A. adj.† 3. Of social intercourse: intimate, close (in early use applied spec. to sexual intercourse). Obsolete.Quot. a1616 should perhaps be interpreted as sense A. 1a.† 5. Responsive. Obsolete.
1.
a. Of a feeling, action, undertaking, condition, etc.: possessed, experienced, or performed by each of two or more persons, animals, or things towards or with regard to the other; reciprocal. Cf. sense A. 4a.In Law also applied to contracts, debts, wills, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [adjective] > mutual or reciprocal
evena1425
interchangeablec1450
relativea1500
reciprocativea1504
mutual1513
reciproque?1533
reciprocous1567
requiteda1586
intermutual1595
alternate1600
commutual1604
vicissitudinary1629
reciprocal1632
reflexivea1635
reciprocated1663
related1671
mutuous1683
turn about1802
interdependent1817
interrelated1827
reciprocating1827
reciprocate1833
transmutuala1834
reflective1839
interpendent1855
interradiating1858
two-way1950
society > trade and finance > barter > [adjective] > mutual or exchange of services
mutual1848
1513 in R. L. Mackie Lett. James IV (1953) 313 [The King of France, to whom James is] bonden and oblist for mutuall defence ilke of vthers.
1526 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 303/2 At dais of trewis haldin..for mutuale obseruatioune of pece & trewis.
1534 T. Elyot tr. Isocrates Doctr. Princes f. 10 Deale thou with inferior countreies in all entercourses and mutuall contractes, accordyng as thou woldest that thei that be to thy countreie superiours, shulde do vnto the.
1550 N. Udall tr. P. M. Vermigli Disc. Sacrament Lordes Supper 2 The holye scripture dothe with a certayne mutual relation, and interchaungeablenesse, sometimes attribute to the things selues, suche termes as are propre to the Sacramentes and signes onelye.
1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-deceiuing v. 71 When wee imbrace one an other, there is a mutuall hold on both sides.
1647 S. Danforth Almanack 1 In the fift [column] are placed the lunary Sysygies and mutuall aspects of the Planets.
1652 Norton's Ordinal of Alchemy Introd., in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum 5 In mutuall love.
1681 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. i. iii. §9. 26 Though frequently such Obligations in mutual Contracts, are conceived by way of provision or condition.
1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Sensus Communis: Ess. Freedom of Wit 72 'Tis in War that mutual Succour is most given, mutual Danger run, and common Affection most exerted.
1729 Act 2 Geo. II c. 22 §13 Where there are mutual Debts between the Plaintiff and Defendant.
1780 W. Cowper Doves 10 Our mutual bond of faith and truth No time shall disengage.
1800 W. H. Wollaston in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 241 Two fluids of unequal density are brought into contact, and unite by mutual penetration.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 667 There is no contract, whether mutual or unilateral, which is binding without a consensus in idem placitum, expressed or implied.
1848 J. J. S. Wharton Law Lexicon 442/2 Mutual Testament, a will made by two persons who leave their effects reciprocally to the survivor.
1871 B. Stewart Heat (ed. 2) §43 The tendency of heat in crystals is to increase the mutual distance of the molecules.
1881 B. Jowett tr. Thucydides Hist. Peloponnesian War I. 174 Mutual fear is the only solid basis of alliance.
1915 Forerunner Nov. 290/1 I knew about those monogamous birds and beasts too, that mate for life and show every sign of mutual affection.
1945 S. J. Perelman Let. 16 Dec. in Don't tread on Me (1987) 66 All this mutual esteem, bottled up over a decade, may erupt like cordite when we finally get within pinching radius of each other.
1992 F. Close Too Hot to Handle (BNC) 8 You expend energy speeding millions of protons so that they can resist their mutual repulsion.
2012 B. Morito Ethic of Mutual Respect Pref. p. viii All we can do is find the political and legal means to negotiate compromises, approximations of mutual respect.
b. Of two or more people: having the same feelings for each other; standing in reciprocal relation to one another. Cf. sense A. 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [adjective] > mutual or reciprocal > of friends, etc.
mutual1531
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. v. sig. Ziijv Fierce hartes of mutuall enemyes hathe ben therby rather subdued than by armure or strength.
?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 147 Yt is..the especyall cause of all my travell in to this Contrie..to spend my lyfe wt you as a very father and a mutuall brother.
1639 H. Glapthorne Argalus & Parthenia iv, in Wks. (1874) I. 53 But Amphialus, Since we are mutuall friends,..I'le make thee my full Executour.
1717 Abp. King Let. 11 Jan. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. IV. 315 Common friends are not allowed to be common friends, but all obliged to declare themselves mutual enemies.
1788 J. Madison Federalist Papers xlvi. 84 The adversaries of the constitution seem..to have viewed these different establishments, not only as mutual rivals and enemies, but [etc.].
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab iii. 39 For kings And subjects, mutual foes, for ever play A losing game into each other's hands.
1850 Notes & Queries 5 Jan. 149/2 We might possibly say of two persons that they are ‘mutual friends’, that is, ‘friends to each other’; though it would be more proper to say, ‘they are mutually friendly’.
1943 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 8 326/1 The nucleation..inevitably leaves a certain number ‘outside’, more intensely outside, indeed, than they would be in an undifferentiated mass of mutual strangers.
1983 M. Cook Muhammad vi. 56 They are to stand united against whatever troublemakers appear in their midst; they are to be mutual friends (the term has a more political connotation than this English rendering carries).
2004 P. Freedman in T. Clayton et al. Shakespeare & Mediterranean 170 We can see that overall there are certain norms for thou use between mutual lovers.
c. the feeling is mutual and variants: the feeling expressed is reciprocated.
ΚΠ
1818 G. Richards in Brit. Critic Aug. 218 The feeling is mutual. The attachment, though by no means equal, is yet very great.
1828 G. D. Pitt Eddystone Elf i. v. 21 Tra.: Who would have been better pleased not to have met you here. Cli.: Pardon me, sir, but the feeling is mutual.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers liii. 584 It afforded him an opportunity of acknowledging..that he loved Mr. Wardle's daughter.., that he was proud to avow that the feeling was mutual.
1893 W. H. Mallock Verses 127 I'll admire you—the feeling of course must be mutual.
1915 T. Dixon Foolish Virgin ii. 22 They had, each of them, shown plainly their fear and hatred of women teachers. The feeling was mutual.
1975 Chem. Week (Nexis) 4 June 40 She was impressed by the company—and evidently the feeling was mutual.
2005 R. Z. Chesnoff (title) The arrogance of the French: why they can't stand us, and why the feeling is mutual.
2. Of something that is an attribute of each of two or more parties independently: belonging to each respectively; respective.In some of the examples a sense of reciprocal relation (sense A. 1a) is also understood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adjective] > different or distinct for each respectively
sundryOE
sundera1382
several1457
mutual?1533
?1533 T. Elyot tr. Isocrates Doctr. Princes sig. B 4 And if a man take good hede, he shall fynde in theyr mutuall assembles and companies, that eyther they reproue other men, or els that they of other be in some thynge reproued.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts 37 b Euen so the lorde prepared, in theyr mutuall vision, eache one for other [sc. Saul and Ananias].
1652 R. Loveday tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Cassandra iii. 207 The tears that were shed on both sides in the remembrance of their mutuall losses.
1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia I. ii. 51 Pressing each other to their Bosoms in Silence, they unclasp'd their mutual Arms.
1796 Hist. Ned Evans II. 152 The time would not allow them to enter into minute details of their mutual adventures.
1818 J. C. Hobhouse Hist. Illustr. (ed. 2) 59 Perhaps we shall find both the one and the other to have been more active despoilers than has been confessed by their mutual apologists.
1837 Bedford in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. R. Southey (1850) VI. 353 I cannot believe the difference in your mutual years can create any strong line of demarcation between you.
1884 Pharm. Jrnl. & Trans. 15 319/1 The mutual action at a distance, repulsive or attractive according to the mutual aspect of the two bodies.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 641 In what common study did their mutual reflections merge?
1992 Jrnl. Physical Chem. 96 409/2 The rotational invariants ‸Φmnl depend only on the mutual orientations of the molecules.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > intimate or familiar > (of social intercourse) intimate
mutual1583
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. G7v Mutuall coition betwixt man and woman, is not so offensiue before God.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. G8v This congression, and mutuall copulation of those that be thus ioyned together in..matrimony, is pure virginitie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) i. ii. 142 But it chances The stealth of our most mutuall entertainment With Character too grosse, is writ on Iuliet. View more context for this quotation
1659 H. L'Estrange Alliance Divine Offices 292 The society and conversation could not be so mutual between them.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xvii. iii. 102 Two Families..between whom there had always existed so mutual an Intercourse and good Harmony. View more context for this quotation
4. Held in common or shared between two or more parties.This use has in the past been censured as incorrect but it is nevertheless frequent. It has probably been used in preference to common on account of the ambiguity of the latter (which in many contexts could also mean ‘ordinary’, ‘mean’, or ‘vulgar’).† c. Of two or more people: sharing a particular status. Cf. joint adj. 2a. Obsolete. rare.
a. Of a feeling, action, or thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [adjective] > mutual or reciprocal > shared between parties
reciprocal1578
mutual1600
dialogic1836
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice v. i. 77 If..any ayre of musique touch their eares, you shall perceaue them make a mutuall stand. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) v. iv. 171 That done, our day of marriage shall be yours, One Feast, one house, one mutuall happinesse. View more context for this quotation
1631 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlewoman 125 Those daughters of Scedasus of Leuctra,..conceiuing a mutuall sorrow for their lost Virginity, became resolute actors in their owne Tragedy.
1747 J. Thomson Let. 4 Oct. in Lett. & Documents (1958) 191 Endeared as you were by..that great Softener and Engager of Hearts, mutual Hardship.
1752 G. G. Beekman Let. 24 Aug. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 150 If this Proposall is agreable to you and Company let me know by the first Oppertunity and I Doubt not but it will Turn Out to our mutual advantage.
1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl II. xii. 216 The Major hinted at their mutual obligations to Mrs. Walsingham.
?1820 Ld. Byron Let. to J. Murray (1821) 9 Mr. Hobhouse was desirous that I should express our mutual opinion of Pope.
1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. V. ix. iv. i. 204 Under the mutual appellative self-regarding, both self-serving and self-disserving are comprized.
1831 W. Scott Count Robert iv, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. II. 86 Their apartments were contiguous, but the communication between them was cut off for the night by the mutual door being locked and barred.
1845 F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass x. 83 We were one; and as much so by our tempers and dispositions, as by the mutual hardships to which we were necessarily subjected by our condition as slaves.
1882 F. J. Furnivall in Digby Myst. (1896) Ded. 2 A reminder of the days when his [sc. Shakespeare's] triumphant art was the subject of our mutual work.
1932 J. C. Powys Glastonbury Romance i. 8 The two cousins..clung to the elderly woman as if their mutual contact with her brought them closer.
1935 I. Compton-Burnett House & its Head xxi. 272 [They] walked home, with their arms linked..bound by mutual sympathy, mutual relief that nether was preferred to her friends.
1965 M. Frayn Tin Men i. 11 Religion and mass communications will..learn to co-operate to their mutual advantage.
1976 Billings (Montana) Sunday Gaz. 27 June 6- g/2 They have separate desks in a mutual office in their Scotsdale..home.
2009 L. Gray No-nonsense Guide World Music iii. 94 The first attempt to broker some kind of mutual working space between Jews and Palestinian rappers.
b. Of a person or people.Now usually used of friends, acquaintances, etc., and rarely applied to blood relatives.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [adjective] > mutual or reciprocal > shared between parties > of a friend, etc.
mutual1632
1632 T. Hawkins tr. P. Matthieu Vnhappy Prosperitie 22 Hee turneth himselfe towards his wife, conjureth her by the love he had borne her,..and by their mutuall children, a little to humble her spirit.
1658 G. Starkey Pyrotechny Ded. p. i My good Fortune, first by the Occasion of our Mutual Friend, Dr. Robert Child.
1722 Lady M. W. Montagu Compl. Lett. (1966) II. 16 Our Mutual Acquaintance are exceedingly dispers'd.
1778 E. Burke Corr. 24 Dec. (1844) II. 251 Our mutual friend, John Bourke.
1786 A. M. Bennett Juvenile Indiscretions V. 86 The eldest I sent for home, to superintend my domestic affairs, before our mutual darling had compleated her education.
1802 Noble Wanderers II. 199 Her sister Ismena had succeeded to their mutual father, Astamanes.
1867 ‘G. Eliot’ in J. W. Cross George Eliot's Life (1885) III. 20 Don't write unless you have a real desire to gossip with me a little about yourself and our mutual friends.
1883 L. Oliphant Altiora Peto I. 93 We had no mutual relations to talk about.
1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise xiv. 238 I obtained an introduction to her through what..a mutual friend.
1981 Dict. National Biogr. 1961–70 839/1 His father and mother were related through a mutual great-grandfather.
1988 P. Monette Borrowed Time i. 10 We met..at a dinner party at a mutual friend's apartment.
2004 M. Ndung'u Friend of Court v. 62 I think, having heard what you just said to your man outside, that we have a mutual friend.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > sharing > [adjective] > shared > shared by two or three
bipartite1619
mutual1831
1831 W. Godwin Caleb Williams (rev. ed.) II. xiii. 265 He talked of the injustice of which we were mutual [earlier edd. mutually] victims, without bitterness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > [adjective]
passiblec1384
susceptive1577
impressive1593
waxy1594
eath1596
impressible1626
mutual1657
responsive1657
open1672
susceptible1709
unsteeled1744
unblunted1775
sensate1788
affectible1796
tangible1813
suscipient1815
impressionable1833
impressional1860
unseared1860
reachable1873
passionful1902
1657 A. Cokayne Obstinate Lady iii. ii. 36 Love is a passion not to be withstood; And (untill hearts be mutual) never good.
1738 J. Thomson To Mem. Newton (new ed.) in Wks. I. 253 Her every Motion clear-discerning, He Adjusted to the mutual [1727 obsequious] Main.
1809 T. Campbell Gertrude of Wyoming i. x When fate had reft his mutual heart:..and Gertrude climb'd a widow'd father's knee.
1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III xxiv. 15 Who could guess If ever more should meet those mutual eyes.
1850 E. B. Browning Poet's Vow iv. xii The old nurse looked within her eyes, Whose mutual look was gone.
6. Originally U.S. Designating or relating to a financial institution (as a building society, insurance company, etc.) without capital stock, that is owned by its members who subscribe to a common fund from which claims, loans, etc., are paid, profits after deductions being shared between them. Frequently in mutual company, mutual society.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [adjective] > types of financial institution
mutual1784
savings and loan1840
Islamic1950
1784 Pennsylvania Gaz. 27 Oct. 3/3 The Office of the Mutual Assurance Company, for insuring Houses from loss by Fire, is kept by the subscriber, at his house in Quarry-street.
1798 Mass. Statute 1 Mar. The Massachusetts mutual fire insurance Company..shall have power to choose..fifteen Directors..to manage the concerns of the said Corporation.
1816 H. Wheaton Rep. Supreme Court U.S. 1 279 The Mutual Assurance Society v. Watts' Executor.
1836 Southern Literary Messenger May 388/2 Several of the associations for interment which have lately been instituted..style themselves ‘Mutual Burial Societies’. How can two individuals bury each other?
1849 H. D. Thoreau Resistance to Civil Governm. in Æsthetic Papers 195 One..who..ventures to live only by the aid of the mutual insurance company, which has promised to bury him decently.
1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 173/2 These bodies [sc. life assurance companies] have been of three kinds—(1) the purely mutual offices, in which the assured themselves constitute the society; (2) proprietary offices..; and (3) the mixed offices.
1912 E. V. French 1860–1910: Arkwright Co. 5 The Mutual Companies, beginning among the textile mills of New England.
1948 E. Hellman Rooiyard 43 The ‘stockfair’..can be roughly defined as a mutual benefit society.
1965 McGraw-Hill Dict. Mod. Econ. 340 As of May 30, 1962, the U.S. had 512 mutual savings banks.
1969 Times 30 Apr. 28/3 As a Mutual Society all our profits must go to our policyholders.
1972 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 28/4 By lending those funds on mortgage, the [building] societies, which are mutual and non profit-making, pass on the benefit of the short-term cost of money to long-term borrowers.
1996 Sunday Tel. 31/1 As a mutual society we have no shareholders to take a slice of the profits.
7. Designating a quantity or property that is dependent equally and symmetrically on two electrical circuits or circuit elements, and represents an effect on either of them of a certain property or change in the other. See also mutual inductance n. at Compounds 2. mutual induction n. the production of an electromotive force in one circuit by a change in the current in an adjacent circuit which is linked to the first by the flux lines of a magnetic field.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > [adjective] > equally dependent
mutual1865
1865 J. C. Maxwell in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 155 507 To find the coefficient (M) of mutual induction between two circular linear conductors in parallel planes.
1896 F. Bedell Princ. Transformer iii. 37 The relation between two circuits is strictly a mutual one, the coefficient of mutual induction having the same value with either circuit as primary or secondary.
1931 J. A. Moyer & J. F. Wostrel Radio Handbk. vii. 395 In most circuits, the coupling between the input and output circuits is adjusted by changing the mutual reactance.
1959 B. J. Ley et al. Linear Circuit Anal. iii. 150 The coefficients Y11, Y22,.., Ynn of the principal diagonal terms were called self-admittances and the off-diagonal coefficients Yhk (h ≠ k) were called the mutual admittances.
1991 G. H. Tomlinson Electr. Networks & Filters 1 An electrical network consists of an interconnection of certain types of elements, the basic ones being resistors, capacitors and inductors (including mutual coupling).
B. n.
1.
a. A mutual company or society (see sense A. 6).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > savings, building, or friendly societies
box club1728
building-society1848
mutual1869
slate club1888
susu1919
savings and loan1962
thrift1981
thrift institution1982
merry-go-round1989
1869 W. M. Burwell River & Marine Insurance in De Bow's Rev. Oct. 827 Of the eleven New York State Mutuals, reporting this year, two are closing up business.
1924 V. N. Valgren Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance in U.S. 11 Most of the early mutuals..were incorporated under special charters.
1985 Times 7 June 23/4 [Building] societies will also be allowed to convert themselves from mutuals into profit-making joint stock companies.
1993 Guardian 13 Oct. i. 15/4 A series of statutes to create EC legal structures for the three components of the social economy: co-ops, mutuals and associations.
2007 E. Bähre Money & Violence Introd. 5 Xhosa migrants in the townships of Cape Town collectively manage their money in financial self-help groups, also known as financial mutuals.
b. = mutual fund n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > investment trust
fixed trust1930
mutual fund1932
Totten trust1932
unit trust1936
mutual1971
1971 Financial Mail (Johannesburg) 26 Feb. 690/1 Some mutual fund men..are once again pressing the Registrar for permission to go ahead with those property mutuals.
2. A mutual friend (see sense A. 4b). rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend
friendOE
wineOE
fellowa1225
friendmana1250
lovera1275
amic1330
gossipc1390
mikea1400
ally1406
amykec1450
favourer1483
favourite1590
palc1770
butty1791
amigo1813
amico1820
compadre1834
pally1863
tillicum1869
nigger1884
buddy1895
paxc1900
mutual1901
righto1908
segotia1917
bud1924
palsy1930
palsy-walsy1932
buddy-buddy1943
winger1943
mucker1947
main man1956
goombah1968
gabba1970
money1982
1901 R. Kipling Kim xii, in McClure's Mag. Aug. 383/1 The wire came in about what our mutual friend said he had hidden... I meet our mutual at Delhi on the way back.
2004 N.Y. Mag. 19 Jan. 129/2 Realizing she and the stripper had a mutual friend, she called the mutual, who called the stripper to get all the details.
Compounds
C1. Forming adjectives with the sense ‘mutually’, as mutual-dependent, mutual-kindling, etc. Now rare.
ΚΠ
a1743 R. Savage Happy the Man iv Who, melting on thy mutual-melting breast, Entranc'd enjoys love's whole luxurious charms, Is all a God.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 232 Love's luxurious pulse beat high,..To mark the mutual-kindling eye.
1895 W. H. Hudson Introd. Philos. H. Spencer 172 Thus remaining unintegrated into the great organization of mutual-dependent parts which constitutes society.
C2. † mutual admiration gang n. Obsolete rare = mutual admiration society n.† mutual terms n. Obsolete rare business terms according to which money payments are replaced by the exchange of goods or services; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1920 G. B. Shaw How to become Musical Critic (1960) 313 A ridiculous little mutual-admiration gang of snobs.
mutual admiration society n. a coterie of people who flatter one another and promote each other's reputations.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > self-esteem > vanity > [noun] > vain person > coterie
mutual admiration society1845
mutual admiration gang1920
1845 Knickerbocker Dec. 579 What a pudder our last number has created among two or three inferior members of the small ‘Mutual Admiration Society’, who [etc.].
1880 L. Stephen Alexander Pope 50 That body was not more free than other mutual admiration societies from the desire to impose its own prejudices on the public.
1969 G. Battiscombe Queen Alexandra x. 139 Seldom can there have been a more devoted family: the unkind might even have called them a mutual admiration society.
1987 Newsweek 18 May 51/1 The three formed a cozy mutual-admiration society.
mutual assured destruction n. mutual deterrence between nuclear powers based on the possession by each of the capacity to destroy a substantial proportion of the population and industry of the other in response to an initial attack; abbreviated MAD.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > war as profession or skill > [noun] > strategy > specific
forward defence1960
mutual assured destruction1968
MAD1969
mutually assured destruction1969
exit strategy1973
dual key1979
Star Wars1983
S.D.I.1984
1968 R. S. McNamara Essence of Security iii. 160 The two world powers..have now achieved mutual assured-destruction capability.
1971 Orbis 15 219 Most of the serious opposition in the West to substantial systems of missile defense for cities..derives from the alleged benefits of a posture of ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’.
1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 17 Mar. 45 The existing strategy of mutual assured destruction (MAD) was suicidal, Schlesinger concluded.
1990 E. Harth Dawn of Millennium (1991) ix. 140-1 No present plans envision a pullback from the position of mutual assured destruction.
mutual capacitance n. Electronics capacitance exhibited by a system of two charged bodies or conductors that are in close proximity to one another, the separating medium acting as a dielectric.
ΚΠ
1919 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 188 26 The importance of reducing the mutual capacitance between the concentric primary and secondary windings of the toroidal induction coil..is emphasized as the result of experimental tests.
1970 Physica Scripta 2 83/1 We are interested in mutual capacitance between equal spheres as a function of separation d between their adjacent surfaces.
2016 U.S. Patent 2016/0034087 A1 5/2 When voltage is applied, the mutual capacitance may be generated between the first electrode..and the second electrode.
mutual characteristic n. Electronics a characteristic curve representing the variation of the anode current of a valve with its grid voltage at constant anode voltage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > thermionic valve > [noun] > anode of valve > current of > rates of change to grid voltage > curve representing
mutual characteristic1933
1933 K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. viii. 195 The mutual characteristic, or transfer characteristic of the tube, shows the effect of the grid voltage upon the plate current.
1962 D. F. Shaw Introd. Electronics xi. 212 The value of gm is low when Ia is very small but after an initial curvature the mutual characteristics are almost linear and parallel.
mutual conductance n. Electronics the ratio of the change in the anode current of a valve to the change of grid voltage causing it, the anode voltage being held constant; also called transconductance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > thermionic valve > [noun] > anode of valve > current of > rates of change to grid voltage
mutual conductance1918
slope1932
1918 L. A. Hazeltine in Proc. IRE 6 64 This slope, being the quotient of a current by a voltage associated therewith, is of the dimensions of a conductance and may be called the mutual conductance of the grid towards the plate.
1942 Electronic Engin. 14 734/1 The alternating potential is applied..at a point where the electron velocity is low, thereby producing a positive feed~back which increases the effective mutual conductance of the valve.
1987 J. Millman & A. Grabel Microelectronics (ed. 2) iv. 134 The parameter gm, called the transconductance or mutual conductance, relates the stength of the source to the control voltage.
mutual deterrence n. the maintenance of peace between opposing sides by each having a sufficient strike capacity to deter the other from initiating armed conflict; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Jan. 16/1 In the non-Communist world a new formula is gaining more and more popularity—‘mutual deterrence’ by the consideration of the opponent's retaliatory power.
1990 Time 30 Apr. 50/2 The fearful symmetry in that exchange of threats between Baghdad and Jerusalem is what mutual deterrence is all about.
mutual exclusion n. Computing the relation between two processes whereby one has a part that cannot be executed while a certain part of the other is running, and vice versa.
ΚΠ
1968 E. W. Dijkstra in Commun. Assoc. Computing Machinery 11 345/2 Mutual exclusion... As a result of the P- and V-operations on ‘mutex’ the actions..exclude each other mutually in time.
1992 C Users Jrnl. Oct. 93/2 To really get all this book has to offer, you should be..very familiar with..issues like mutual exclusion and reentrancy.
mutual improvement n. now historical attributive designating any of various societies or clubs formed with an educational aim, whose members met to exchange information, discuss learned papers, etc.
ΚΠ
a1790 B. Franklin Autobiogr. (1981) 61 In the Autumn of the preceding Year, I had form'd most of my ingenious Acquaintance into a Club, for mutual Improvement, which we call'd the Junto.]
1864 T. L. Nichols 40 Years Amer. Life I. 64 The mutual improvement and debating societies had their day.
1895 T. Hardy Jude v. vi. 382 He had joined an Artizans' Mutual Improvement Society established in the town about the time of his arrival there.
1912 Dict. National Biogr. 1901–11 II. 413/1 He founded a penny bank, a soup kitchen, a working-man's club, and a mutual improvement society.
1987 F. Mort Dangerous Sexualities (BNC) 113 Other groups, like the Boys' League of Honour..addressed the leisure activities of working-class boys, setting up night schools and organizing sport and mutual improvement societies.
mutual inductance n. the property of two electrical circuits or devices by virtue of which a variation in the current flowing through one induces an electromotive force in the other.
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1886 Electrician 12 Feb. 271 When the mutual coefficient of induction of two circuits is to be referred to, it will of course be the mutual inductance.
1943 C. L. Boltz Basic Radio v. 90 Two coils have inductances of 2H and 4H. If they are coupled together so that only 50 per cent. of the flux is linked with all the turns, what is the value of the mutual inductance?
1991 G. H. Tomlinson Electr. Networks & Filters 18 The technique of generalized immittances can be applied to networks in which there is mutual inductance between elements, as occurs for example with the use of transformers.
mutual instruction n. now historical = mutual improvement n.
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1819 H. G. MacNab (title) The new views of Mr. Owen of Lanark impartially examined... Also observations on..the systems of education of Mr. Owen..and that of the new British and Foreign system of mutual instruction.]
1912 Dict. National Biogr. 1901–11 I. 79/2 Although occupied in weaving, he found time to study mathematics..and at sixteen he attended first of all an evening school and afterwards a mutual instruction class.
1947 I. J. Simpson Educ. in Aberdeen 203 The Rhynie Mutual Instruction Class actively encouraged similar ventures elsewhere.
1999 Leicester Mercury (Nexis) 24 Aug. 4 Others joined them and the young men purchased a desk and various writing materials. Gradually enough support was gathered to begin a Mutual Instruction Society.
mutual masturbation n. the stimulation by two people of each other's genitals for sexual pleasure, esp. manually.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > other types of sexual activity or intercourse > [noun] > stimulation of genitals
mutual masturbation1884
fingerplay1941
heavy petting1952
1884 J. G. Kiernan in Detroit Lancet May 483/2 She has felt herself at certain times sexually attracted by some of her female friends with whom she indulged in mutual masturbation.
1948 A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior Human Male xxi. 616 Mutual masturbation between two males may be dismissed, even by certain clinicians, as not homosexual.
1987 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Apr. 59/1 When I was about eight I had a sexual encounter with another girl. We didn't kiss, it was more like mutual masturbation.
mutual principles n. = mutual terms n.
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1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) v. 33 He was admitted into Dr. Swishtail's academy upon what are called ‘mutual principles’—that is to say, the expenses of his board and schooling were defrayed by his father, in goods not money.
1868 Addr. by Promoters Mutual Land, Emigration, & Colonization Co. 4 Mutual principles may be applied to the interception of some of the profits of the trading classes, and to some extent to those of manufactures.
1999 C. Leadbeater & I. Christie To Our Mutual Advantage ii. 16 The Workers' Educational Association follows mutual principles because many of its courses are organised by volunteers who are former students.
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1895 M. A. Fytche Kerchiefs to hunt Souls 98 She realizes that no private family in France wants a governess on mutual terms as in England.
1908 N.E.D. at Mutual Mutual terms,..used to describe a business arrangement between two parties, in which exchange of services takes the place of money payments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1513