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

Germanic cognates include ofs mūs, osx mūs (nds-de Muus), Dutch muis, Old High German mūs (German Maus), Old Norse mús (Swedish mus, Danish mus, Norwegian mus, Icelandic mús, Faroese mús).

Indo-European cognates include Ancient Greek μῦς, Latin mūs, Spanish mur, Armenian մուկ, Church Slavic мꙑшь (Russian мышь), Albanian mi, Persian موش,kmr mişk,Sanskrit मूष्.

The computing sense was coined by American engineer Bill English in 1965 and first used publicly in a publication titled "Computer-Aided Display Control", in reference to the similarity with the animal.

Noun

• (RP, America) enPR: mous, IPA: /maʊs/
• (Canada) IPA: /mʌʊs/

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: mous, mouz, IPA: /maʊs/, /maʊz/
• (Canada) IPA: /mʌʊs/, /mʌʊz/

mouse (plural mice)

1. Any small rodent of the genus Mus.
   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC ↗:

     At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

2. (informal) A member of the many small rodent and marsupial species resembling such a rodent.
3. A quiet or shy person.
4. (computing) (plural mice or, rarely, mouses) An input device that is moved over a pad or other flat surface to produce a corresponding movement of a pointer on a graphical display.

   move the mouse over the icon (that is, move the mouse so that the pointer moves over the icon)

5. (boxing) A facial hematoma or black eye.
6. (nautical) A turn or lashing of spun yarn or small stuff, or a metallic clasp or fastening, uniting the point and shank of a hook to prevent its unhooking or straightening out.
7. (obsolete) A familiar term of endearment.
8. A match used in firing guns or blasting.
9. (set theory) A small model of (a fragment of) Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory with desirable properties (depending on the context).
10. (historical) A small cushion for a woman's hair.
11. Part of a hind leg of beef, next to the round.

    Synonyms: mouse buttock

• muss

• French: (mouse or rat) souris
• German: Maus
• Italian: topo, sorcio, ratto
• Portuguese: rato, (Brazil) camundongo
• Russian: мышь
• Spanish: ratón, mur

• German: graue Maus plain Jane
• Portuguese: tímido
• Russian: мышь

• French: souris
• German: Maus, Computermaus, Rechnermaus
• Italian: mouse, topo (rare), topino (rare), topolino (rare)
• Portuguese: (Portugal) rato, (Brazil) mouse
• Russian: мы́шка
• Spanish: ratón, mouse (Latin America)

mouse (mouses, present participle mousing; simple past and past participle moused)

1. (intransitive) To move cautiously or furtively, in the manner of a mouse (the rodent) (frequently used in the phrasal verb to mouse around).
2. (intransitive) To hunt or catch mice (the rodents), usually of cats. [from 12th c.]
3. (transitive, nautical) To close the mouth of a hook by a careful binding of marline or wire.

   Captain Higgins moused the hook with a bit of marline to prevent the block beckets from falling out under slack.

4. (intransitive, computing) To navigate by means of a computer mouse.
   • 1988, MacUser, volume 4:

     I had just moused to the File menu and the pull-down menu repeated the menu bar's hue a dozen shades lighter.

5. (obsolete, nonce, transitive) To tear, as a cat devours a mouse.
   • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i]:

     [Death] mousing the flesh of men.

• muscle
• mussel

• French: fureter
• German: mausen

• German: mausen, Mäuse fangen
• Russian: ловить мышей

The surname is sometimes an Americanized spelling of German Maus.

1. (US, metonym, uncountable, with "the") The Walt Disney Company.
2. Surname.