mouse

See also: mouše and Mouse

English

House mouse (Mus musculus) (noun sense 1).
A computer mouse (noun sense 2).

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *múHs
Proto-Germanic *mūs
Proto-West Germanic *mūs
Old English mūs
Middle English mous
English mouse

    Inherited 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 (Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish mus, Faroese and Icelandic 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 computing sense was coined by American engineer Bill English in 1965 and first used publicly in a publication titled "Computer-Aided Display Control", in reference to the similarity with the animal.

    Pronunciation

    Noun
    • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: mous, IPA(key): /maʊs/
      • Audio (UK); “a mouse”:(file)
      • Audio (US):(file)
    • (Canada) IPA(key): /mʌʊs/
    • Rhymes: -aʊs
    Verb
    • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: mous, mouz, IPA(key): /maʊs/, /maʊz/
    • (Canada) IPA(key): /mʌʊs/, /maʊz/
    • Rhymes: -aʊs, -aʊz
    • In the computing sense, always pronounced with /s/. Other verb senses are usually pronounced /z/.

    Noun

    mouse (plural mice or (computing) mouses)

    2. (loosely) Any mammal of the many rodent families (especially Muridae) that have a small body and a long tail.
      Hypernyms: (taxonomically) muroid < myomorph, myodont < rodent < mammal < vertebrate < animal < organism; (otherwise) gnawer, critter, creature
      Coordinate terms: rat (bigger), mole, mole-rat
      Near-synonyms: murine, murid, vole (all parasynonymous with this broad sense)
      2. (strictly) Such a rodent that is of the genus Mus.
        Hypernyms: (taxonomically) murine < murid < muroid < myomorph, myodont < rodent < mammal < vertebrate < animal < organism; (otherwise) gnawer, critter, creature
        Coordinate terms: vole, rat (bigger), mole, mole-rat
        • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
          At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
        • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 158:
          A person smeared with the excrement of a mouse was rendered impotent, according to Pliny the Elder.
        • 2022 June 2, Sandee LaMotte, “The ‘Benjamin Button’ effect: Scientists can reverse aging in mice. The goal is to do the same for humans”, in CNN‎[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 17 May 2026:
          In molecular biologist David Sinclair’s lab at Harvard Medical School, old mice are growing young again. […] After injecting the virus into the eye, the pluripotent genes were then switched on by feeding the mouse an antibiotic.
      3. (figurative) A quiet or shy person.
        She's probably hiding in her room, she always does when we have company. She's our little mouse.
      4. (figurative, obsolete) A familiar term of endearment.
        • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 3, scene 4:
          Let the bloat King tempt you again to bed, / Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse
    4. (computing) An input device that is moved over a pad or other flat surface to produce a corresponding movement of a pointer on a graphical display.
      My mouse needs new batteries.
      1. (computing, by extension) An on-screen pointer controlled by a mouse device.
        Move the mouse over the icon.
    5. (boxing) A facial hematoma or black eye.
    6. (nautical) A turn or lashing of spun yarn or small stuff, or a metallic clasp or fastening, uniting the point and shank of a hook to prevent its unhooking or straightening out.
    7. A match used in firing guns or blasting.
    8. (set theory) A small model of (a fragment of) Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory with desirable properties (depending on the context).
    9. (historical) A small cushion for a woman's hair.
    10. Part of a hind leg of beef, next to the round.
      Synonym: mouse buttock

    Hypernyms

    Hyponyms

    Coordinate terms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from mouse (noun). Lots are hyponyms (unsorted)

    Descendants

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Verb

    mouse (third-person singular simple present mouses, present participle mousing, simple past and past participle moused)

    1. (intransitive) To move cautiously or furtively, in the manner of a mouse (the rodent) (frequently used in the phrasal verb to mouse around).
    2. (intransitive) To hunt or catch mice (the rodents), usually of cats. [from 12th c.]
    3. (transitive, nautical) To close the mouth of a hook by a careful binding of marline or wire.
      Captain Higgins moused the hook with a bit of marline to prevent the block beckets from falling out under slack.
    4. (intransitive, computing) To navigate by means of a computer mouse.
      • 1988, MacUser, volume 4:
        I had just moused to the File menu and the pull-down menu repeated the menu bar's hue a dozen shades lighter.
      • 2009, Daniel Tunkelang, Faceted Search, page 35:
        Unlike the Flamenco work, the Relation Browser allows users to quickly explore a document space using dynamic queries issued by mousing over facet elements in the interface.
    5. (obsolete, nonce word, transitive) To tear, as a cat devours a mouse.

    Derived terms

    terms derived from mouse (verb)

    Translations

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Chinese

    Etymology

    From English mouse.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    mouse

    1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) mouse (Classifier: 隻／只 c; 個／个 c)

    Synonyms

    Dialectal synonyms of 鼠標 (“computer mouse”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 鼠標器 Mainland China, 滑鼠 Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia
    Northeastern Mandarin Taiwan 滑鼠
    Malaysia 滑鼠
    Singapore 滑鼠
    Cantonese Hong Kong 滑鼠, mouse
    Taishan (Guanghai) 鼠標
    Hakka Miaoli (N. Sixian) 滑鼠
    Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 滑鼠
    Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 滑鼠
    Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 滑鼠
    Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 滑鼠
    Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 滑鼠
    Southern Min Xiamen 鼠標
    Quanzhou 鼠標
    Zhangzhou 鼠標
    Kinmen 滑鼠
    Singapore (Hokkien) 滑鼠

    Italian

    Etymology

    Unadapted borrowing from English mouse.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈma.us/[1]
    • Rhymes: -aus
    • Audio:(file)

    Noun

    mouse m (invariable)

    1. (computing, computer hardware) mouse

    Derived terms

    References

    1. ^ “mouse” in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

    Anagrams

    Middle English

    Noun

    mouse

    1. alternative form of mous

    Portuguese

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *múHs
    Proto-Germanic *mūs
    Proto-West Germanic *mūs
    Old English mūs
    Middle English mous
    English mouseubor.
    Portuguese mouse

      Unadapted borrowing from English mouse.

      Pronunciation

      • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈmaw.zi/ [ˈmaʊ̯.zi]

      Noun

      mouse m (plural mouses) (Brazil)

      1. (computing) mouse (input device used to move a pointer on the screen)
        Synonym: (Portugal) rato
        • 1997, Bobbi Linkemer, Secretária eficiente, NBL Editora, →ISBN, page 118:
          Verifique se a esfera do mouse está limpa. O mouse pad ajuda a mantê-lo limpo.
          Check that the mouse ball is clean. The mouse pad helps to keep it clean.
        • 2015, Douglas Comer, Interligação de Redes com TCP/IP - Vol. 1 - 6ª Edição: Princípios, protocolos e arquitetura, Elsevier Brasil, →ISBN, page 48:
          O usuário só precisa de um dispositivo de interface com a tela, teclado, mouse ou touchpad, e uma conexão de rede.
          The user only needs a device that interfaces with the screen, keyboard, mouse or touchpad, and a network connection.
      2. (loosely) pointer; cursor (moving icon that indicates the position of the mouse)
        Synonyms: ponteiro, cursor

      Further reading

      Romanian

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *múHs
      Proto-Germanic *mūs
      Proto-West Germanic *mūs
      Old English mūs
      Middle English mous
      English mouseubor.
      Romanian mouse

        Unadapted borrowing from English mouse.

        Noun

        mouse n (plural mouse-uri)

        1. (computing) mouse (for a PC)

        Declension

        singular plural
        indefinite definite indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative mouse mouse-ul mouse-uri mouse-urile
        genitive-dative mouse mouse-ului mouse-uri mouse-urilor
        vocative mouse-ule mouse-urilor

        Spanish

        Etymology

        Etymology tree
        Proto-Indo-European *múHs
        Proto-Germanic *mūs
        Proto-West Germanic *mūs
        Old English mūs
        Middle English mous
        English mouseubor.
        Spanish mouse

          Unadapted borrowing from English mouse. Doublet of mur.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /ˈmaus/ [ˈmau̯s]
          • Rhymes: -aus

          Noun

          mouse m (plural mouses)

          1. (computing, chiefly Latin America) mouse (input device)
            Synonym: ratón

          Usage notes

          • According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

          Further reading

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