Advertisement

Origin and history of mustang

mustang(n.)

"small, half-wild horse of the American prairie and pampas," 1808, from Mexican Spanish mestengo "animal that strays" (16c.), from Spanish mestengo "wild, stray, ownerless," literally "belonging to the mesta," an association of cattle ranchers who divided stray or unclaimed animals that got "mixed" with the herds, from Latin mixta "mixed," fem. past participle of miscere "to mix" (from PIE root *meik- "to mix").

Said to be influenced by the Spanish word mostrenco "straying, wild," which is probably from mostrar, from Latin monstrare "to show." Though now feral, the animals are descended from tame horses brought to the Americas by the Spaniards. The brand of automobile was introduced by Ford in 1962.

also from 1808

Entries linking to mustang

*meik-

also *meig-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to mix." 

It might form all or part of: admix; admixture; immiscible; mash; meddle; medley; melange; melee; mestizo; metis; miscegenation; miscellaneous; miscible; mix; mixo-; mixture; mustang; pell-mell; promiscuous.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit misrah "mixed;" Greek misgein, mignynai "to mix, mix up, mingle; to join, bring together; join (battle); make acquainted with;" Old Church Slavonic mešo, mesiti "to mix," Russian meshat, Lithuanian maišau, maišyti "to mix, mingle," Welsh mysgu "to mix." 

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    kangaroo
    [Dixon] Kangaroo court is American English, first recorded 1850 in a Southwestern context (also mustang court), from notion...
    bronco
    also broncho, "untamed or half-tamed horse of the American Southwest," 1850, American English, apparently from a noun use of Spanish bronco (adj.) "rough, rude," originally a noun meaning "a knot in wood," perhaps from Vulgar Latin *bruncus "a knot, projection," apparently from a
    pony
    1650s, powny, "a very small horse" (less than 13 hands in height), from Scottish, apparently from obsolete French poulenet "little foal" (mid-15c.), diminutive of Old French poulain "foal," from Late Latin pullanus "young of an animal," from Latin pullus "young of a horse, fowl,
    osmosis
    "the tendency of fluids to pass through porous partitions and mix with each other; the diffusion of fluids through membranes," 1867, Latinized from osmose (1854), a shortened form of endosmose "inward passage of a fluid through a porous septum" (1829), from endo- "inward," which
    heresy
    "doctrine or opinion at variance with established standards" (or, as Johnson defines it, "an opinion of private men different from that of the catholick and orthodox church"), c. 1200, from Old French heresie, eresie "heresy," and by extension "sodomy, immorality" (12c.), from La
    sonnet
    1557 (in the title of Surrey's poems), from French sonnet (1540s) or directly from Italian sonetto, literally "little song," from Old Provençal sonet "song," diminutive of son "song, sound," from Latin sonus "sound" (from PIE root *swen- "to sound"). Originally in English and int
    figure
    c. 1200, "numeral;" mid-13c., "visible appearance of a person;" late 14c., "visible and tangible form of anything," from Old French figure "shape, body; form of a word; figure of speech; symbol, allegory" (10c), from Latin figura "a shape, form, figure; quality, kind, style; figu
    duty
    late 14c., duete, "obligatory service, that which ought to be done," also "the force of that which is morally right," from Anglo-French duete, from Old French deu "due, owed," hence "proper, just" (on the notion of "that which one is bound by natural, moral, or legal obligation t
    catechesis
    "oral instruction, catechism," 1753, from Latinized form of Greek katēkhesis "instruction by word of mouth," from katēkhein "to instruct orally," originally "to resound" (with sense evolution via "to sound (something) in someone's ear" to "to teach by word of mouth"). This is fro
    Renaissance
    "great period of revival of classical-based art and learning in Europe that began in the fourteenth century," 1840, from French renaissance des lettres, from Old French renaissance, literally "rebirth," usually in a spiritual sense, from renastre "grow anew" (of plants), "be rebo

    Share mustang

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near mustang
    Advertisement