moose

Earlier mus, moos, from a Northeastern Algonquian language name for the animal, such as Massachusett moos, mws, Narragansett moos or Penobscot mos (cognate to Abenaki moz), from Proto-Algonquian *mo·swa (“it strips”), referring to how a moose strips tree bark when feeding: compare Massachusett moos-u (“he strips, cuts smooth”).[1][2]

• enPR: mo͞os, IPA^(key): /muːs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːs
• Homophone: mousse

moose (plural moose or (dated) mooses or (nonstandard) moosak or (humorous, nonstandard) meese)

1. (US, Canada) The largest member of the deer family (Alces alces), of which the male has very large, palmate antlers.

   We saw a moose at the edge of the woods.

2. (informal) An ugly person.

• The usual plural of moose is moose; compare the names of many animals, such as deer and fish, which are also invariant. Other plurals are rare and nonstandard: mooses (with the usual English plural-forming suffix -s), meese (jocularly formed by analogy to goose → geese), moosak (presumably derived from the addition of the Abenaki plural-forming suffix -ak).[3]

• (largest member of the deer family (Alces alces)): elk (British), Newfoundland speed bump (Canadian, humorous)

• → Irish: mús
• → Khmer: មូហ្ស (muuhsɑɑ)
• → Korean: 무스 (museu)
• → Persian: موس‎ (mūs)
  • → Arabic: مُوظ‎ (mūẓ)
• → Thai: มูส (mûus)
  • Thai: กวางมูส (gwaang-mûut)

• moose on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

moose (plural mooseg)

1. worm
2. caterpillar

From Middle English mous, from Old English mūs, from Proto-Germanic *mūs, from Proto-Indo-European *muh₂s.

• IPA^(key): [mus]

moose (plural mice)

1. mouse