mongrel

From Middle English mongrel, equivalent to mong (“mixture”) +‎ -rel (pejorative diminutive); from Old English ġemong (“mingling”) (whence Modern English among), from Proto-Germanic *mang- (“mix”).[1]

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

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mongrel (plural mongrels)

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

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

   Hyponym: moggy (of a cat)

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

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

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

   Synonym: bastard

   • This poor mongrel's sitting in a bar, you see... (Maurie Fields)
   • 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!"

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