Mussel
/ˈmʌs.əl/noun
A bivalve mollusk with a dark shell, often found attached to rocks or other surfaces.
Did you know?English mussel comes through Old French from a Latin word for a shellfish, and that Latin form is linked to a PIE root meaning “mouse,” because the shell was imagined as mouse-like.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mus-
“mouse”
Latin
Latin
mūsculus
“little mouse; a shellfish, especially a mussel”
Old French
OF
mouscle / moucle
“mussel”
Middle English
ME
muscle, muscel
“mussel”
Modern English
English
mussel
“a bivalve mollusk with a dark shell”