Mule
/mjuːl/noun
A hybrid animal produced by crossing a male donkey with a female horse; also, a stubborn person or a device used to carry something.
Did you know?The English word comes through Old French and Latin from a root tied to the mule itself, and in medieval Europe the animal became a symbol of stubbornness because it was prized for endurance yet famously hard to breed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mel-
“to grind, crush, or rub down”
Latin
Latin
mulus
“a mule”
Old French
Old French
mule
“a mule”
Middle English
English
mule
“a mule”
Modern English
English
mule
“a hybrid donkey-horse animal; by extension, a stubborn person or carrier”