mule

来自拉丁语mulus,骡子，来自PIE*mukslos,骡子，可能来自PIE*meik,混合，混杂，词源同 mix,melange.

mule

mule: English has two words mule. The ‘donkeylike animal’ [13] comes via Old French mul from Latin mūlus, which was borrowed from a pre- Latin language of the Mediterranean area; Albanian mušk ‘mule’ is related. Mule the ‘slipper’ [16] is probably an adaptation of Latin mulleus, which denoted a sort of red or purple shoe worn by high-ranking magistrates in Rome. This was short for mulleus calceus ‘red shoe’, and mulleus itself appears to have been derived from mullus ‘red mullet’ (ultimate source of English mullet [15]), which in turn came from Greek múllos, a relative of mélās ‘black’.
=> mullet

mule (n.1)

"offspring of donkey and horse," from Old English mul, Old French mul "mule, hinny" (12c., fem. mule), both from Latin mulus (fem. mula) "a mule," probably from a pre-Latin Mediterranean language.

The mule combines the strength of the horse with the endurance and surefootedness of the ass, and is extensively bred for certain employments for which it is more suited than either; it is ordinarily incapable of procreation. With no good grounds, the mule is a proverbial type of obstinacy. [OED]

Properly, the offspring of a he-ass and a mare; that of a she-ass and a stallion is technically a hinny. Used allusively of hybrids and things of mixed nature. As a type of spinning machine, attested from 1797 (so called because a hybrid of distinct warp and woof machines). Meaning "obstinate, stupid, or stubborn person" is from 1470s; that of "narcotics smuggler or courier" first attested 1935.

mule (n.2)

"loose slipper," 1560s, from Middle French mule, from Latin mulleus calceus "red high-soled shoe," worn by Roman patricians, from mullus "red" (see mullet (n.1)). Related: Mules.

1. A mule is a hybrid of a male donkey and a female horse.

骡子是公驴和母马交配而生的杂种动物。

2. He's as stubborn as a mule .

他像骡子一样倔。

3. I had fondly imagined that riding a mule would be easy.

我曾经天真地以为骑骡子很容易.

4. He continually cracked his whip and shouted at the mule.

他不住地挥响着鞭子,吆喝牲口.

5. A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.

骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代.