mole
English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl (“a mole, spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-West Germanic *mail, from Proto-Germanic *mailą (“spot, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *mel-, *melw- (“dark, dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey-, *my- (“to soil, sully”).
Cognate with Scots mail (“spot, stain”), Saterland Frisian Moal (“scar”), German dialectal Meil (“spot, stain, blemish”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌻 (mail, “spot, blemish”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /məʊl/, /mɔʊl/
- (Estuary English) IPA(key): /mɒʊl/
- (General American) IPA(key): /mol/, /moʊl/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊl
Noun
[edit]mole (plural moles)
Synonyms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
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Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English molle (“mole”), molde, mole, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mulaz, *mulhaz (“mole, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *molg-, *molk- (“slug, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)melw- (“to grind, crush, beat”).
Cognate with North Frisian mull (“mole”), Saterland Frisian molle (“mole”), Dutch mol (“mole”), Low German Mol, Mul (“mole”), German Molch (“salamander, newt”), Old Russian смолжь (smolžʹ, “snail”), Czech mlž (“clam”).
Derivation as an abbreviation of Middle English molewarpe, a variation of moldewarpe, moldwerp (“mole”) in Middle English is unexplained and probably unlikely due to the simultaneous occurrence of both words. See mouldwarp.
Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /məʊl/
- (Estuary English) IPA(key): /mɒʊl/
- (General American) IPA(key): /mol/, /moʊl/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊl
Noun
[edit]mole (plural moles)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/ScalopusAquaticus.jpg/220px-ScalopusAquaticus.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Tunnel_Boring_Machine_%28Yucca_Mt%29.jpg/220px-Tunnel_Boring_Machine_%28Yucca_Mt%29.jpg)
- Any of several small, burrowing insectivores of the family Talpidae; also any of southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae (golden moles) and any of several Australian mammals in the family Notoryctidae (marsupial moles), similar to but not closely related to Talpidae moles
- Any of the burrowing rodents also called mole-rats.
- (espionage) An internal spy, a person who involves himself or herself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.
- A kind of self-propelled excavator used to form underground drains, or to clear underground pipelines
- A type of underground drain used in farm fields, in which a mole plow creates an unlined channel through clay subsoil.
Synonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- blind as a mole
- Brewer's mole (Parascalops breweri)
- common mole (Scalopus aquaticus)
- duck mole (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
- eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus)
- golden mole (Chrysochloridae spp.)
- hairy-tailed mole, hairytail mole (Parascalops breweri)
- Japanese mole (Mogera wogura)
- marsupial mole * (Notoryctidae spp.)
- mole-bank
- mole bean (Ricinus communis)
- mole crab (Hippoidea spp.)
- Mole Creek
- mole cricket * (Gryllotalpidae spp.)
- mole-eyed
- molehill *
- mole plough
- mole-rat *
- mole run
- mole salamander (Ambystoma spp.)
- mole shrew *
- Père David's mole (Talpa davidiana)
- rat-mole, rat mole
- Sado mole (Mogera tokudae)
- sand mole (Bathyergus suillus)
- shrew mole *
- star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata)
- Temminck's mole (Mogera wogura)
- Tokuda's mole (Mogera tokudae)
- Tyrrhenian mole (Talpa tyrrhenica)
- water mole
- whack-a-mole
* Entry has derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 3
[edit]From moll (from Moll, an archaic nickname for Mary), influenced by the spelling of the word mole (“an internal spy”), and due to /mɒl/ and /məʊl/ merging as [ˈmɔʊɫ] in the Australian accent.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General Australian) IPA(key): /məʉl/, [ˈmɔʊɫ]
- Rhymes: -əʊl
Noun
[edit]mole (plural moles)
- (slang, derogatory, chiefly Australia and New Zealand) A moll, a bitch, a slut.
Synonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Etymology 4
[edit]From French môle or Latin mōles (“mass, heap, rock”).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/East_Mole_Dunkirk.jpg/220px-East_Mole_Dunkirk.jpg)
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole (plural moles)
- (nautical) A massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater or junction between places separated by water.[1]
- 1847, George A. Fisk, A pastor's memorial of the holy land:
- [Alexander the Great] then conceived the stupendous idea of constructing a mole, which should at once connect [Tyre] with the main land; and this was actually accomplished by driving piles and pouring in incalculable quantities of soil and fragments of rock; and it is generally believed, partly on the authority of ancient authors, that the whole ruins of Old Tyre were absorbed in this vast enterprize, and buried in the depths of the sea [...]
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:
- Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land.
- 1983, Archibald Lyall, Arthur Norman Brangham, The companion guide to the south of France:
- [about Saint-Tropez] Yachts and fishing boats fill the little square of water, which is surrounded on two sides by quays, on the third by a small ship-repairing yard and on the fourth by the mole where the fishing boats moor and the nets are spread out to dry.
- (rare) A haven or harbour, protected with such a breakwater.
- (historical) An Ancient Roman mausoleum.
Translations
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Etymology 5
[edit]Calqued from German Mol; spelled as if it had come directly from molecule or Latin moles (the ultimate source of Mol and molecule in any event).
Alternative forms
[edit]- mol (dated)
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole (plural moles)
- (chemistry, physics) In the International System of Units, the base unit of amount of substance; the amount of substance of a system which contains exactly 6.02214076×1023 elementary entities (atoms, ions, molecules, etc.). Symbol: mol. The number of atoms is known as Avogadro’s number. [from 1897]
Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
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Etymology 6
[edit]In English since before the 20th century. From French môle f, from Latin mola (“millstone”), because it is a hardened mass.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole (plural moles)
- A hemorrhagic mass of tissue in the uterus caused by a dead ovum.
Translations
[edit]Etymology 7
[edit]From Spanish mole, from Classical Nahuatl mōlli (“sauce; stew; something ground”).
Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmoʊleɪ/, /ˈmoʊli/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
[edit]mole (countable and uncountable, plural moles)
- One of several spicy sauces typical of the cuisine of Mexico and neighboring Central America, especially a sauce which contains chocolate and which is used in cooking main dishes, not desserts.[2]
Translations
[edit]References
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Central Franconian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old High German mālōn, mālēn, denominative of māl (“spot, stain”), from Proto-West Germanic *mālijan, from Proto-Germanic *mēlijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“dark color”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]mole (third-person singular present molt, past participle jemolt)
See also
[edit]Chavacano
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Spanish moler (“to grind”).
Verb
[edit]molé
Danish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole c (singular definite molen, plural indefinite moler)
Inflection
[edit]Esperanto
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Adverb
[edit]mole
Antonyms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]- mola (“soft”)
French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole f (plural moles)
Further reading
[edit]- “mole”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician
[edit]Verb
[edit]mole
Italian
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole f (plural moli)
- (chemistry, physics) mole
- Synonym: grammo-molecola
Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
[edit]mole
Anagrams
[edit]Latin
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Verb
[edit]mole
Etymology 2
[edit]Noun
[edit]mōle f
Lower Sorbian
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole
Middle English
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole
- Alternative form of molle (“mole”)
Polish
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole m animal
Noun
[edit]mole m inan
Portuguese
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]
- Hyphenation: mo‧le
Etymology 1
[edit]From Old Galician-Portuguese mole, from Latin mollis, earlier *molduis, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus (“soft, weak”).
Adjective
[edit]mole m or f (plural moles, comparable, comparative mais mole, superlative o mais mole or molíssimo, diminutive molinho, augmentative molão)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Learned borrowing from Latin mōlēs. Doublet of mó, an inheritance.
Noun
[edit]mole f (plural moles)
Etymology 3
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
[edit]mole f (plural moles)
Etymology 4
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
[edit]mole m (plural moles)
- Alternative form of molhe (breakwater)
Further reading
[edit]- “mole”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024
Serbo-Croatian
[edit]Verb
[edit]mole (Cyrillic spelling моле)
Spanish
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Semi-learned borrowing from Latin mollis. Doublet of muelle.
Adjective
[edit]mole m or f (masculine and feminine plural moles)
Etymology 2
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole f (plural moles)
- hunk, chunk, slab (thing of large size or quantity)
- 2021 January 2, Claudi Pérez, “Salvador Illa: el triunfo de la sobriedad”, in El País[1]:
- En la sede del Ministerio de Sanidad, una mole racionalista con forma de cubo, María Luisa Carcedo procede al traspaso de carteras.
- At the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, a rationalist cube-shaped hunk, María Luisa Carcedo proceeds to the transfer of portfolios.
- massiveness
Etymology 3
[edit]Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl mōlli (“sauce, something ground”).
Noun
[edit]mole m (plural moles)
Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 4
[edit]Verb
[edit]mole
- inflection of molar:
Further reading
[edit]- “mole”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Zayse-Zergulla
[edit]Noun
[edit]mole
References
[edit]- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/əʊl
- Rhymes:English/əʊl/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Espionage
- English slang
- English derogatory terms
- Australian English
- New Zealand English
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- en:Nautical
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with rare senses
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms derived from German
- en:Chemistry
- en:Physics
- English terms borrowed from Spanish
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English terms derived from Classical Nahuatl
- English 2-syllable words
- English uncountable nouns
- English heteronyms
- en:People
- en:Sauces
- en:Soricomorphs
- en:SI units
- en:Units of measure
- en:Chocolate
- Central Franconian terms inherited from Old High German
- Central Franconian terms derived from Old High German
- Central Franconian terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Central Franconian terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Central Franconian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Central Franconian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Central Franconian lemmas
- Central Franconian verbs
- Chavacano terms inherited from Spanish
- Chavacano terms derived from Spanish
- Chavacano lemmas
- Chavacano verbs
- Danish terms borrowed from French
- Danish terms derived from French
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- Esperanto terms with audio links
- Esperanto lemmas
- Esperanto adverbs
- French terms borrowed from German
- French terms derived from German
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Chemistry
- fr:Physics
- Galician non-lemma forms
- Galician verb forms
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ɔle
- Rhymes:Italian/ɔle/2 syllables
- Italian terms borrowed from German
- Italian terms derived from German
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- it:Chemistry
- it:Physics
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian noun forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms
- Latin noun forms
- Lower Sorbian non-lemma forms
- Lower Sorbian noun forms
- Lower Sorbian superseded forms
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/ɔlɛ
- Rhymes:Polish/ɔlɛ/2 syllables
- Polish non-lemma forms
- Polish noun forms
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese terms inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms inherited from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese comparable adjectives
- Portuguese informal terms
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Latin
- Portuguese learned borrowings from Latin
- Portuguese doublets
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- European Portuguese
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Serbo-Croatian non-lemma forms
- Serbo-Croatian verb forms
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Spanish/ole
- Rhymes:Spanish/ole/2 syllables
- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
- Spanish semi-learned borrowings from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish doublets
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish terms with quotations
- Spanish terms borrowed from Classical Nahuatl
- Spanish terms derived from Classical Nahuatl
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Mexican Spanish
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms
- es:Sauces
- Zayse-Zergulla lemmas
- Zayse-Zergulla nouns