mula

mula (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of moola.

• Luma, malu, Lamu, Ulam, luma, alum, maul

From Proto-Great Andamanese *mulə.

mula

1. egg

• Juliette Blevins, Linguistic clues to Andamanese pre-history: Understanding the North-South divide, pg. 22 (2009)

Borrowed from Spanish mula.

mula

1. mule

• Hills O., Roberto, et al. (2004), Diccionario lulu ña̱ sanyaꞌá xiinꞌ nya̱nya̱ = Pequeño diccionario ilustrado en el mixteco de Ayutla, Gro.‎^[1] (overall work in Ayutla Mixtec and Spanish), Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 7

• mulè (Urban Jakarta)

Inherited from Classical Malay mula, from Sanskrit मूल (mūla).

mula

1. start, beginning

• mulain

mula (not comparable)

1. first

• malu, mual, ulam

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈmu.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈmu.la]

mula f (plural mules)

1. female equivalent of mul
2. tree spurge

   Synonym: lleterassa

3. callus
4. garfish

   Synonym: agulla prima

• mulassa

• “mula”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• IPA^(key): /ˈmula/

From Latin mula, feminine of mulus.

mula f (masculine mulu, plural mule)

1. she-mule

From its scientific name Mola mola.

mula f (plural mule)

1. sunfish, ocean sunfish (Mola mola)

• pesciu tondu

• “mula” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

• IPA^(key): [ˈmula]
• Hyphenation: mu‧la
• Rhymes: -ula

mula f (relational adjective mulový or mulí)

1. mule (hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse)

   Alternative form: mul m

• mezek

• “mula”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “mula”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “mula”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

• mulla (obsolete)

mula

1. man, male

   Synonym: dhulay

• Troy, Jakelin (2019) [1994], The Sydney Language‎^[2], 2nd edition, Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press, →ISBN, page 29

mula

1. crop; something to be planted

Inherited from Latin mūla.

mula f (plural mules) (ORB, broad)

1. female mule

   Coordinate term: mulèt m

• mule in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• mula in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “mūlus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 6/3: Mobilis–Myxa, page 211

mula

1. inflection of mulir:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

mula

1. soft

• (2006). “Gaay Garay Dhadhin, Gamilaraay and Yuwalaraay Picture Dictionary”

• IPA^(key): /mù.lá/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [mʊ̀.lə́]

mùla (grade 3)

1. (obsolete) to disappear, be gone

mula

1. to plant

From Malay mula, probably from either:

• Sanskrit मूल (mūla, “origin, beginning, base, foundation, radish, root, cause”), or
• Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mula (“to start”, literally “to plant”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /mula/
• Hyphenation: mu‧la

mula (plural mula-mula)

1. origin

• “mula”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

• IPA^(key): /ˈmu.la/
• Rhymes: -ula
• Hyphenation: mù‧la

mula f (plural mule, masculine mulo)

1. she-mule

• Ulma

Feminine of mūlus; mūlus +‎ -a (feminine suffix).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.ɫa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.la]

mūla f (genitive mūlae); first declension

1. female mule, she-mule
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 7.14:

     […] : mulis strata detrahi iubet binisque tantum centunculis relictis agasones partim captivis, partim aegrorum armis ornatos imponit.

     […] : he orders the mules to be stripped off their saddles and, leaving them only some two small pieces of patchwork to be sat on, be mounted with their muleteers carrying weapons taken from either the prisoners or the sick.

First-declension noun (dative/ablative plural in -īs or dative/ablative plural in -ābus).

• mūlus

• “mula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "mula", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmula/

mula f (male equivalent mul)

1. female mule

mula

1. inflection of mul:
   1. genitive/accusative singular
   2. nominative dual

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “mula”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “mula”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

There are two suggested theories as to where this word usage originated:

• From Old Malay [script needed] (mula), from Sanskrit मूल (mūla, “origin, beginning, base, foundation, radish, root, cause”).
• Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mula (“to start”, literally “to plant”).^[1]

• (Standard Literary) IPA^(key): /ˈmula/ [ˈmu.la]
  • Rhymes: -ula, -la, -a
• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈmulə/ [ˈmu.lə]
  • Rhymes: -ulə, -lə, -ə
• Hyphenation: mu‧la

mula (Jawi spelling مولا, uncountable)

1. the beginning, the start

   dari mula lagi

   since the beginning

2. (medicine) onset

   mula demam ― onset of fever.

• > Indonesian: mula (inherited)

• "mula" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Inherited from Arabic مَوْلَى (mawlā).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuː.la/
• Rhymes: -uːla

mula m (plural mwiel)

1. (obsolete) landlord

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuː.lɑ/
• Rhymes: -uː.lɑ

mūla

1. genitive plural of mūl

Learned borrowing from Latin mūla, from mūlus + -a. Doublet of mua.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmula/
• Rhymes: -ula
• Hyphenation: mu‧la
• Homophone: Mula

mula f (plural mulas)

1. female equivalent of mulo (“female mule”)

   Synonyms: mũacha, mua

• Fala: mula
• Portuguese: mula

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “mula”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “mula”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

From Latin mūla, feminine of mūlus (“mule”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmula/

mula f (plural mulas)

1. mule
   • 13th century, Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, page 38vb:

     E dixo acab a abdias ue ala tr̃a por las fontanas todas de las tr̃as ⁊ por las torriẽtes quiçab trobaremos yerba ont biuan los cauallos elas mulas e nõ p̃damos las beſtias.

     And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to every fountain throughout the land and to the brooks. Perhaps we will find grass on which the horses and mules can live, that we may not lose the beasts.”

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “mula”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “mula”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “mula”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

• IPA^(key): /ˈmu.la/
• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: mu‧la

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

mula f

1. (Buddhism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

mula m animal

1. genitive/accusative singular of mul

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

mula

1. feminine nominative/vocative singular of muli

• “mula”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese mula, a learned borrowing from Latin mūla, from mūlus + -a. Displaced Old Galician-Portuguese mua.

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ulɐ
• Hyphenation: mu‧la

mula f (plural mulas)

1. mule (hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse)

   Coordinate term: bardoto

2. (strictly, rare) female equivalent of mulo (“female mule”)
3. (figuratively) a stubborn person
4. (jargon) a pile of salt
5. drug mule

• “mula”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “mula”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “mula”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “mula”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mula” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Borrowed from French mouler.

a mula (third-person singular present mulează, past participle mulat) 1st conjugation

1. to mold

From Latin mūla.

• IPA^(key): /mûla/
• Hyphenation: mu‧la

mȕla f (Cyrillic spelling му̏ла)

1. mule (offspring of male donkey and female horse)

• “mula”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

• IPA^(key): /mùːla/

múla f

1. mule (offspring of male donkey and female horse)

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	múla
gen. sing.	múle
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	múla	múli	múle
genitive (rodȋlnik)	múle	múl	múl
dative (dajȃlnik)	múli	múlama	múlam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	múlo	múli	múle
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	múli	múlah	múlah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	múlo	múlama	múlami

• “mula”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

Inherited from Old Spanish mula, from Latin mūla, feminine of mūlus (“mule”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmula/ [ˈmu.la]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: mu‧la

mula f (plural mulas)

1. female equivalent of mulo (“mule”)
2. trash
3. (Latin America) traitor
4. (Mexico) a smart, somewhat abusive person

• ungulado
• perisodáctilo

• asno
• burro
• burdégano
• caballo
• zebra

• “mula”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• IPA^(key): /²mʉːla/
• Rhymes: -²ʉːla

From Old Swedish mule, via German, from Latin mulus.

mula c

1. mule (a generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse)

• mulåsna

From mule (“muzzle”).

mula (present mular, preterite mulade, supine mulat, imperative mula)

1. (colloquial) to rub snow in someone's face
   • 2006, “16-åring friad från snöbollsmisshandel [16-year-old released in court from snowball abuse]”, in Sydsvenskan‎^[4]:

     Kamraten sade i tingsrätten att han bara tog tag i 16-åringen och mulade honom med snö innan han släppte taget.

     His friend said in district court that he only grabbed the 16-year-old and rubbed snow in his face before letting go.

2. (by extension, colloquial) to rub something in someone’s face

   Synonym: pula

   • 2008, P J Anders Linder, “En ding, ding, ding, ding värld? [A mad, mad, mad, mad world?]”, in Svenska Dagbladet‎^[5]:

     Bäst som Barack Obama stod och övade segergester framför hallspegeln ringde Reuters på dörren och mulade honom med gratulationstårtan.

     Just as Barack Obama stood in front of his hall mirror, practicing victory gestures, Reuters called on the door and rubbed a congratulatory cake in his face.

3. (colloquial) to wolf down, stuff down; to eat, especially as if (figuratively) rubbing one’s face in the food

   Jag mulade en hel chokladkaka.

   I wolfed down an entire chocolate bar.

   • 2024 April 27, Eleonor Svensson, Clara Wasell, “Strategin som gav Lhiam förstaplatsen”, in Hela Gotland:

     Med en annorlunda strategi lyckades han mula i sig flest korvar på tio minuter: ”Det blir mer som att du dricker brödet, vilket spar tid”

     With an unusual strategy he managed to stuff down the most sausages in ten minutes: “It becomes more like you drink the bread, which saves time.”

   • 2025 July 15, Petter, “Karissa äter sockermunkar”, in Gamereactor:

     Den tjejen kan mula socker/fett/salt, hon. Som en maskin.

     That girl can stuff down sugar/fat/salt. Like a machine.

• This verb for rubbing snow in someone’s face is known for its many dialectal synonyms, and in a survey made in 2006 by the radio programme Språket i P1, they received 95 synonyms for this word based on 5800 replies, mula being the most common one.

From Romani.

mula

1. (slang) (intransitive) to die
2. (slang) (transitive) to kill somebody

• “Om 95 olika ord för att gnida in snö i ansiktet [About 95 different words for rubbing snow in someone’s face]”, in Språket i P1‎^[6], Sveriges Radio, 10 January 2006, retrieved 23 October 2019
• “mula”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

• mola — obsolete, Spanish-based spelling

Borrowed from Sanskrit मूल (mūla).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /muˈlaʔ/ [mʊˈlaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: mu‧la

mulâ (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜎ)

1. from

   Synonyms: galing, buhat

mulâ (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜎ)

1. (formal, archaic) origin

   Synonyms: orihen, pinagmulan, pinanggalingan

Borrowed from Spanish mula, from Old Spanish mula, from Latin mūla, from mūlus + -a.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmula/ [ˈmuː.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: mu‧la

mula (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜎ)

1. mule (sterile hybrid of donkey and horse)

Borrowed from Spanish mula, from Medieval Latin mula (“slipper, shoe with a thick sole”), presumably from classical Latin mulleus, the dyed shoe of either the patricians or senators, from Ancient Greek μύλλος (múllos).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmula/ [ˈmuː.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: mu‧la

mula (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜎ)

1. mule (backless shoe)

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /muˈla/ [mʊˈla]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: mu‧la

mulá (complete nula, progressive nunula, contemplative pupula, Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜎ) (obsolete)

1. apheretic form of pumula: to turn red

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmulaʔ/ [ˈmuː.lɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -ulaʔ
• Syllabification: mu‧la

mulà (complete nula, progressive nunula, contemplative pupula, Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜎ) (obsolete)

1. apheretic form of pumula: to criticize

• “mula”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Serrano Laktaw, Pedro (1914), Diccionario tagálog-hispano (overall work in Tagalog and Spanish), Intramuros, Manila: Ateneo de Manila., page 834

• ulam, luma

mula

1. genitive singular of mul

mula

1. egg

mula

1. shadow^[1]

• yunak (“shade, shadow”)

mulá

1. a plant