mongrel

English

Etymology

From Middle English mongrel, equivalent to mong (“mixture”) +‎ -rel (pejorative diminutive); from Old English ġemang (“mingling”) (whence Modern English among), from Proto-Germanic *mang- (“mix; mixture”).[1]

The raising of /ɔ/ (which would have yielded /ɒ/) to /u/ (hence modern /ʌ/) within Middle English is regular between /m/ and /ŋ/; compare among, monger.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/[2][3]
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɑŋ.ɡɹəl/, /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/
    • Audio (Texas):(file)
  • (Australia, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈmɐŋ.ɡɹəl/
  • Rhymes: -ʌŋɡɹəl, -ɑŋɡɹəl

Noun

mongrel (plural mongrels)

  1. (often derogatory) Anything of mixed kind.
    1. A dog with a lineage of two or more breeds.
      Synonyms: bitsa, bitser, (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) bitzer, cur, mutt, (dialectal) tyke, Heinz 57
      Hyponym: (of a cat) moggy
      That dog is a mongrel; who knows what breed it could be!
    2. (derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of mixed race.
      • 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 456:
        The natives of Banda are very much mixed, and it is probable that at least three-fourths of the population are mongrels, in various degrees of Malay, Papuan, Arab, Portuguese, and Dutch. The first two form the bases of the larger portion, and the dark skins, pronounced features, and more or less frizzly hair of the Papuans preponderates.
  2. (slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A thuggish, obnoxious, or contemptible person; (often preceded by "poor") a pitiable person.
    Synonym: bastard
    • 2008, Jim Brigginshaw, Over My Dead Body, page 77:
      "Yanto bloody Evans!" Jack stuttered with rage. "Yanto bloody Evans! That... that... bloody mongrel! D'you know who he is? He's the one who knocked me back for a bit of extra timber before the roof fell in on me!"
    • 2019 October 27, Natalie Wolfe, “Australia's worst serial killer's affairs with sisters-in-laws”, in New Zealand Herald‎[1], archived from the original on 28 August 2025:
      But somebody's got to tell these mums and dads why their kids died, why this mongrel thinks he can wipe them out like a dirty rag.
  3. (slang, Australia) An erect penis; an erection.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

mongrel (not comparable)

  1. Of mixed breed, nature, or origin; of or like a mongrel.
    English spelling is often regarded as confusing and unpredictable due to the mongrel nature of that language.
    a mongrel dog
    • 2001 September 26, Anna Quindlen, “A Quilt of a Country”, in Newsweek‎[2], archived from the original on 16 September 2026:
      America is an improbable idea. A mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts, it is held together by a notion, the notion that all men are created equal, though everyone knows that most men consider themselves better than someone.

Translations

Translations

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “mongrel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ The Chambers Dictionary, 9th Ed., 2003
  3. ^ “mongrel”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
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