Where does “mouse” come from?

Mouse comes from Middle English mous, from Old English mūs, from Proto-Germanic mūs, from Proto-Indo-European mūs-.

mouse (English): Any small rodent of the genus "Mus"; A member of...

Definitions

  1. Any small rodent of the genus "Mus"; A member of...

Ancestry of “mouse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmousmouse or shrew; A coward; one lacking courage; A...
2Old Englishmūsmouse
3Proto-West Germanicmūsmouse
4Proto-Germanicmūsmouse
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmúh₂smouse

Words derived from “mouse”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European múh₂s →