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mole

/məʊl/ noun

In Latin: naevus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mole at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. The molecular weight of a substance expressed in grams; the basic unit of amount of substance adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites.
  2. A spy who works against enemy espionage.
  3. Spicy sauce often containing chocolate.

Origin

From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl (“a mole, spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-West Germanic *mail, from Proto-Germanic *mailą (“spot, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *mel-, *melw- (“dark, dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey-, *my- (“to soil, sully”). Cognate with Scots mail (“spot, stain”), Saterland Frisian Moal (“scar”), German dialectal Meil (“spot, stain, blemish”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌻 (mail, “spot, blemish”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)