mole

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See also: Mole, móle, molé, môle, molë, and mɔ̀lɛ̀

English[edit]

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Etymology 1[edit]

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From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl, mǣl (“a mole, spot, mark, blemish”), 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]

Noun[edit]

mole (plural moles)

woman with a mole on her face
  1. A pigmented spot on the skin, a naevus, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy.
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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From Middle English mol, molde, molle, from Old English *mol, 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]

Noun[edit]

mole (plural moles)

a mole (animal)
a mole (excavator)
  1. Any of several small, burrowing insectivores of the family Talpidae.
  2. Any of the burrowing rodents also called mole rats.
  3. (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.
  4. A kind of self-propelled excavator used to form underground drains, or to clear underground pipelines
  5. 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]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]
mole rat — see mole rat

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 [moʊl] in the Australian accent.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole (plural moles)

  1. (slang, derogatory) A moll, a bitch, a slut.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

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French môle or Latin mōles (“mass, heap, rock”).

the remains of a mole at Dunkirk

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole (plural moles)

  1. (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.
  2. (rare) A haven or harbour, protected with such a breakwater.
  3. (historical) An Ancient Roman mausoleum.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 5[edit]

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From German Mol.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole (plural moles)

  1. (chemistry, physics) In the International System of Units, the base unit of amount of substance; the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities (atoms, ions, molecules, etc.) as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12. Symbol: mol. The number of atoms is known as Avogadro’s number. [from 1897]
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 6[edit]

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From Latin mola.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole (plural moles)

  1. A hemorrhagic mass of tissue in the uterus caused by a dead ovum.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 7[edit]

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From Spanish mole, from Classical Nahuatl mōlli (“sauce; stew; something ground”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole (countable and uncountable, plural moles)

chicken in a red mole sauce, with rice on the side
  1. One of several spicy sauces typical of the cuisine of Mexico and neighboring Central America, especially the sauce which contains chocolate and which is used in cooking main dishes, not desserts.[2]
Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ mole (accessed: March 30, 2007)
  2. ^ mole (accessed: March 30, 2007)

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

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Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /moːlə/, [ˈmoːlə]

Noun[edit]

mole c (singular definite molen, plural indefinite moler)

  1. mole, breakwater
  2. pier, jetty

Inflection[edit]

Declension of mole
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative mole molen moler molerne
genitive moles molens molers molernes

Esperanto[edit]

Adverb[edit]

mole

  1. softly

Antonyms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole f (plural moles)

  1. (chemistry, physics) mole

Further reading[edit]

Italian[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole f (plural moli)

  1. (chemistry, physics) mole

Synonyms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

mole

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of molō

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

mōle f

  1. ablative singular of mōles

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole

  1. superseded spelling of móle.

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Portuguese mole, from Latin mollis, mollem, earlier *molduis, from Proto-Indo-European *(h₂)moldus (“soft, weak”).

Adjective[edit]

mole m, f (plural moles, comparable)

  1. Not hard; smooth or flexible; soft.
  2. (informal) Not difficult; easy.
Inflection[edit]
Inflection of mole
singular plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine
positive mole mole moles moles
comparative mais mole mais mole mais moles mais moles
superlative o mais mole
molíssimo 		a mais mole
molíssima 		os mais moles
molíssimos 		as mais moles
molíssimas
augmentative molão molona molões molonas
diminutive molinho molinha molinhos molinhas

Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin mōles.

Noun[edit]

mole f (plural moles)

  1. mass

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole m (plural moles)

  1. (Portugal) Alternative form of mol

Spanish[edit]

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Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin mollis; cognate with muelle.

Adjective[edit]

mole (plural moles)

  1. soft, mild
Synonyms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin moles

Noun[edit]

mole f (plural moles)

  1. hunk, chunk, slab (thing of large size or quantity)
  2. massiveness

Etymology 3[edit]

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

From Classical Nahuatl mōlli (“sauce, something ground”).

Noun[edit]

mole m (plural moles)

  1. (Mexico) mole, a type of stew.

Etymology 4[edit]

Verb[edit]

mole

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of molar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of molar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of molar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of molar.

Zayse-Zergulla[edit]

Noun[edit]

mole

  1. fish

References[edit]

  • Takács, Gábor (1999-2008) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 397: “Zayse mo'le”
  • Linda Jordan, A study of Shara and related Ometo speech varieties (Zergulla mòlɛ́)
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