Category:Mule

Mule, n. Etym: [F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of mulus; cf. Gr. m, fr. L. mulus. Cf. Mulatto.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated between an ass and a mare, sometimes a horse and a she-ass. See Hinny.

Note: Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy, and proverbial for stubbornness.

2. (Bot.)

Defn: A plant or vegetable produced by impregnating the pistil of one species with the pollen or fecundating dust of another; -- called also hybrid.

3. A very stubborn person.

4. A machine, used in factories, for spinning cotton, wool, etc., into yarn or thread and winding it into cops; -- called also jenny and mule-jenny. Mule armadillo (Zoöl.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia hybrida), native of Buenos Ayres; -- called also mulita. See Illust. under Armadillo. -- Mule deer (Zoöl.), a large deer (Cervus, or Cariacus, macrotis) of the Western United States. The name refers to its long ears. -- Mule pulley (Mach.), an idle pulley for guiding a belt which transmits motion between shafts that are not parallel. -- Mule twist, cotton yarn in cops, as spun on a mule; -- in distinction from yarn spun on a throstle frame.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Mule - (Heb. pered ), so called from the quick step of the animal or its power of carrying loads. It is not probable that the Hebrews bred mules, as this was strictly forbidden in the law (Leviticus 19:19), although their use was not forbidden. We find them in common use even by kings and nobles (2 Samuel 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33; 2 Kings 5:17; Psalms 32:9). They are not mentioned, however, till the time of David, for the word rendered "mules" (R.V. correctly, "hot springs") in Genesis 36:24 (yemim) properly denotes the warm springs of Callirhoe, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. In David's reign they became very common (2 Samuel 13:29; 1 Kings 10:25). Mules are not mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps they had by that time ceased to be used in Palestine.