mongrel

English

Etymology

From Middle English mongrel, equivalent to mong (“mixture”) +‎ -rel (pejorative diminutive); from Old English ġemang (“mingling”) (whence Modern English among), from Proto-Germanic *mang- (“mix”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑŋ.ɡɹəl/, /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋɡɹəl, -ɑŋɡɹəl

Noun

mongrel (plural mongrels)

1. (often derogatory) Someone or something of mixed kind or uncertain origin, especially a dog.

   Synonyms: bitsa, bitser, (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) bitzer, cur, mutt, (dialectal) tyke, Heinz 57

   Hyponym: (of a cat) moggy

   That dog is a mongrel; who knows what breed it could be!

   • 2001 September 26, Anna Quindlen, “A Quilt of a Country”, in Newsweek‎^[1]:

     America is an improbable idea. A mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts, it is held together by a notion, the notion that all men are created equal, though everyone knows that most men consider themselves better than someone.

2. (slang, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) A thuggish, obnoxious, or contemptible person; (often preceded by "poor") a pitiable person.

   Synonym: bastard

   • 2008, Jim Brigginshaw, Over My Dead Body, page 77:

     "Yanto bloody Evans!" Jack stuttered with rage. "Yanto bloody Evans! That... that... bloody mongrel! D'you know who he is? He's the one who knocked me back for a bit of extra timber before the roof fell in on me!"

   • 2019 October 27, Natalie Wolfe, “Australia's worst serial killer's affairs with sisters-in-laws”, in New Zealand Herald‎^[2]:

     But somebody's got to tell these mums and dads why their kids died, why this mongrel thinks he can wipe them out like a dirty rag.

3. (slang, Australia) An erect penis; an erection.

Related terms

• among

Translations

someone of mixed kind

• Bulgarian: мелез m (melez)
• Catalan: bastard (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雜種／杂种 (zh) (zázhǒng), 混血兒／混血儿 (zh) (hùnxuèr)

• Danish: køter (da) (dog)
• Dutch: bastaard (nl) m, vuilnisbakkenras (nl) n
• Esperanto: senrasa
• Finnish: rakki (fi), piski (fi) (dog); sekasikiö (fi) (anything)
• French: bâtard (fr) m, corniaud (fr) m, métis (fr) m, métisse (fr) f
• Galician: can de palleiro m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Mischling (de) m, Mischlingshund (de) m (dog), Promenadenmischung (de) f (dog, humorous)
• Greek: μιξογενής m or f (mixogenís), μιγάς (el) m (migás)
• Hebrew: מְעֹרָב (he) m (m'oráv)
• Hungarian: keverék (hu), korcs (hu)
• Ido: hibrido (io)
• Irish: crosanta
• Italian: bastardo (it) m, bastardino m (dog)
• Japanese: 雑種 (ja) (ざっしゅ, zasshu), ハーフ (hāfu), 混血児 (こんけつじ, konketsuji)
• Latin: hibrida m
• Macedonian: мелез m (melez), џуке́ла f (džukéla), лангач m (langač)
• Maori: peropero, kurī peropero (of a dog), mangarū (of a dog)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjøter (no) m (of a dog)

  Nynorsk: kjøter m (of a dog)

• Polish: kundel (pl) m, mieszaniec (pl) m
• Portuguese: vira-lata (pt) m, (Portugal) rafeiro (pt) m
• Romanian: corcitură (ro)
• Russian: дворня́га (ru) f (dvornjága) (dog), дворня́жка (ru) f (dvornjážka) (dog), мети́с (ru) m (metís), мети́ска (ru) f (metíska) (person), полукро́вка (ru) m or f (polukróvka)
• Spanish: (mongrel dog) perro callejero m, perro mestizo m, cacri m (Venezuela), comecuandohay m (Nicaragua), comecuanduay (Nicaragua), chucho (es) m (Spain), chumino (es) m (Guatemala), chusco (es) m (Peru), gozque (es) m(Colombia), mil leches m (Spain), perro aguacatero m (El Salvador, Honduras), perro criollo m (Panama), perro cruzado m, perro corriente m (Mexico), PP m (Argentina), quiltro (es) m (Bolivia, Chile), sato m (Cuba, Puerto Rico), tinaquero m (Panama), zaguate (es) m (Costa Rica)
• Swedish: byracka (sv), gatukorsning (sv) c, blandrashund c
• Thai: พันทาง (th) (pan-taang)
• Turkish: kırma (tr), melez (tr)

Adjective

mongrel (comparative more mongrel, superlative most mongrel)

1. Of mixed breed, nature, or origin; of or like a mongrel.

   English spelling is often regarded as confusing and unpredictable due to the mongrel nature of our tongue.

Translations

Translations

• Ido: mestica (io), hibrida (io)
• Polish: bastardowy