mole
pronunciation
How to pronounce mole in British English:
UK [məʊl]
How to pronounce mole in American English:
US [moʊl]
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- Noun:
- the molecular weight of a substance expressed in grams; the basic unit of amount of substance adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
- a spy who works against enemy espionage
- spicy sauce often containing chocolate
- a small congenital pigmented spot on the skin
- a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away
- small velvety-furred burrowing mammal having small eyes and fossorial forefeet
Word Origin
- mole
- mole: English has four distinct words mole. The oldest is ‘brown spot’ [OE]. It is the descendant of Old English māl, which meant broadly ‘discoloured mark’. This developed in Middle English to ‘spot on the skin’, but the specific sense ‘brown mark’ did not emerge until fairly recently. The word goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *mailam, a derivative of a base meaning ‘spot, mark’ which also produced German malen ‘paint’ and Dutch maalen ‘paint’ (source of English maulstick ‘stick used as a rest by painters’ [17]). Mole the animal [14] was borrowed from Middle Dutch mol.No one knows for sure where this came from, but its similarity to the now obsolete mouldwarp ‘mole’ [14] (a compound noun whose etymological meaning is ‘earththrower’) suggests that it could represent a truncated version of mouldwarp’s prehistoric Germanic ancestor. The metaphorical application of the word to a ‘traitor working secretly’ has been traced back as far as the 17th century, but its modern currency is due to its use by the British espionage writer John le Carré. Mole ‘harbour wall’ [16] comes via French môle and medieval Greek mólos from Latin mōlēs ‘mass, massive structure’.The diminutive form of this, coined in modern times, is mōlēcula, from which, via French molécule, English gets molecule [18]. Other relatives are demolish and, possibly, molest [14], which comes ultimately from Latin molestus ‘troublesome’, connected by some scholars with mōlēs. And German mol, a convenient shortening of molekulargewicht ‘molecular weight’, has given English its fourth mole [20], used as the basic unit of measurement for the amount of a substance.=> maulstick; molecule, molest
- mole (n.1)
- spot on skin, Old English mal "spot, mark, blemish," especially on cloth or linen, from Proto-Germanic *mailan "spot, mark" (cognates: Old High German meil, German Mal, Gothic mail "wrinkle"), from PIE root *mai- "to stain, defile" (cognates: Greek miainein "to stain, defile," see miasma). Specifically of dark marks on human skin from late 14c.
- mole (n.2)
- type of small burrowing mammal (Talpa europea), mid-14c., probably from obsolete moldwarp, literally "earth-thrower." Spy sense first recorded 1974 in John le Carré (but suggested from early 20c.), from notion of "burrowing." Metaphoric use for "one who works in darkness" is from c. 1600.
- mole (n.3)
- "breakwater," 1540s, from Middle French môle "breakwater" (16c.), ultimately from Latin moles "mass, massive structure, barrier," from PIE root *mo- "to exert oneself" (cognates: Greek molos "effort," molis "hardly, scarcely;" German mühen "to tire," müde "weary, tired;" Russian majat' "to fatigue, exhaust," maja "hard work").
- mole (n.4)
- unit of molecular quantity, 1902, from German Mol coined 1900 by German chemist Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1912), short for Molekül (see molecule).
Example
- 1. A mole 's preferred habitats are wooded hilly districts .
- 2. The mole had listened to all this with great interest .
- 3. The earth under your toes is plush with mole tunnels .
- 4. They might be bald and ugly , but naked mole rats never get cancer .
- 5. The rat banged on the door with his stick , and the mole pulled .