NODE / 0123reconstructedProto-Indo-European
*mūs-
mouse; also the family behind specialized muscle words
- DATE
- Proto-Indo-European prehistory
- SENSE
- mouse family
- FAMILY
- Indo-European
- CANONICAL KEY
- node:6:mus:reconstructed:sense:mouse-family
Reconstructed from multiple Indo-European branches.
*This form is reconstructed by comparison. It is not directly attested in this exact written form.
01ANCESTRAL EDGES
ROOT OF THIS ROOT
*THE TRAIL ENDS HERE.No securely reviewed ancestor extends beyond this node. 4 evidence paths stop at this boundary.
INSPECT 4 CITED BOUNDARY CLAIMS
02DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES
THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Latin · Latin antiquity · animalmūs
mouse
- SOUND
- Latin mūs continues the Indo-European *mūs- mouse word; the family also includes Germanic *mūs- and Greek mūs.
- MEANING
- The inherited mouse word also generated specialized muscle and mussel terms in Latin.
- SCHOLAR
- American Heritage Indo-European Roots · University of Texas LRC
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — The Proto-Indo-European form is reconstructed from cross-branch comparison.
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Proto-Germanic · Proto-Germanic prehistory · animal*mūs
mouse
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *mūs continues Proto-Indo-European *mūs-, reconstructed from Germanic, Latin, Greek, and other comparanda.
- MEANING
- The inherited meaning remains “mouse.”
- SCHOLAR
- American Heritage Indo-European Roots · University of Texas LRC
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — Both endpoints are reconstructed; the cross-branch comparison supports the deeper form.
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Ancient Greek · Ancient Greek literary record · mouse muscle polysemyμῦς
mouse; also a muscle of the body
- SOUND
- Greek μῦς preserves the inherited long-vowel mouse stem represented by reconstructed *mūs-; the inflected stem appears as μυ-.
- MEANING
- The inherited mouse word also acquires the anatomical muscle sense within Greek.
- CHRONOLOGY
- Proto-Indo-European prehistory to attested Ancient Greek.
- SCHOLAR
- Liddell and Scott · American Heritage Dictionary Editors · University of Texas LRC
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — The Greek form and polysemy are attested; the Indo-European ancestor is reconstructed by cross-branch comparison.
03TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE
EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE
This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.
- UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES
- 15
- REVIEWED EDGES
- 15
- DEEPEST PATH
- 6
- MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
- 4
HISTORICAL STEP 013 EDGES
STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Latin mūs continues the Indo-European *mūs- mouse word; the family also includes Germanic *mūs- and Greek mūs.
- MEANING
- The inherited mouse word also generated specialized muscle and mussel terms in Latin.
American Heritage Indo-European Roots · University of Texas LRC2 CITATIONSEDGE 105 ↗ STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *mūs continues Proto-Indo-European *mūs-, reconstructed from Germanic, Latin, Greek, and other comparanda.
- MEANING
- The inherited meaning remains “mouse.”
American Heritage Indo-European Roots · University of Texas LRC2 CITATIONSEDGE 117 ↗ STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Greek μῦς preserves the inherited long-vowel mouse stem represented by reconstructed *mūs-; the inflected stem appears as μυ-.
- MEANING
- The inherited mouse word also acquires the anatomical muscle sense within Greek.
Liddell and Scott · American Heritage Dictionary Editors · University of Texas LRC3 CITATIONSEDGE 274 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 023 EDGES
STEP 02diminutive derivationestablished
- SOUND
- Latin musculus is the diminutive formation built from mūs with the suffix -culus.
- MEANING
- “Little mouse” named a muscle and also supplied a Latin name for the mussel; the anatomical resemblance mechanism is not fixed here.
American Heritage · Merriam-Webster editors6 CITATIONSEDGE 104 ↗ STEP 02inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Old English mūs continues reconstructed Proto-Germanic *mūs, with cognates including German Maus and Dutch muis.
- MEANING
- The rodent meaning remained stable across the Germanic branch.
American Heritage Indo-European Roots · University of Texas LRC3 CITATIONSEDGE 116 ↗ STEP 02historical continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Ancient long /yː/ develops through Greek iotacism to Modern Greek /i/, while polytonic μῦς is written monotonic μυς.
- MEANING
- The anatomical muscle sense becomes the ordinary modern center; the mouse sense survives as learned vocabulary while everyday Greek normally uses another rodent word.
Centre for the Greek Language editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 273 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 033 EDGES
STEP 03borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Old French muscle continues Latin musculus through the Romance transmission channel.
- MEANING
- The Latin anatomical name remained a muscle term.
American Heritage Dictionary editors1 CITATIONEDGE 103 ↗ STEP 03derivationprobable
- SOUND
- Medieval or Vulgar Latin mūscula is the feminine variant of Latin musculus.
- MEANING
- The mouse-derived Latin word was used as a name for the bivalve mollusk.
American Heritage · Merriam-Webster editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 110 ↗ STEP 03inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English mous continues Old English mūs.
- MEANING
- The inherited word retained the meaning “mouse.”
Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 115 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 043 EDGES
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English muscle borrowed the Old French form with English pronunciation and spelling adaptation.
- MEANING
- The anatomical name remained a muscle term.
American Heritage Dictionary editors1 CITATIONEDGE 102 ↗ STEP 04borrowingprobable
- SOUND
- Old English muscelle was borrowed from the Latin mussel form represented as Medieval Latin mūscula or Vulgar Latin *muscula.
- MEANING
- The Latin mollusk name entered Old English without a major semantic change.
Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 109 ↗ STEP 04continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English mous developed into modern mouse with the later spelling convention marking the diphthong.
- MEANING
- The central rodent meaning remained stable while transferred senses accumulated.
Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 114 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 052 EDGES
STEP 05continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English muscle continued into modern English with regular orthographic and phonological development.
- MEANING
- The anatomical meaning remained central and later extended to strength and coercive power.
Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 101 ↗ STEP 05inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English muscle continues Old English muscelle with reduction and remodeling of the final syllables.
- MEANING
- The word continues to denote the bivalve mollusk.
Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 108 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 061 EDGE
STEP 06alterationprobable
- SOUND
- Modern mussel replaces Middle English muscle; American Heritage says the current spelling was perhaps influenced by Dutch mossel.
- MEANING
- The mollusk meaning remained stable while spelling separated it from anatomical muscle.
American Heritage · Merriam-Webster editors3 CITATIONSEDGE 107 ↗ “Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.
04RECORDED EVIDENCE
ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE
NO RECORDED WITNESS ATTACHED.That is expected for a reconstructed form: the node is inferred from comparison, not quoted from a surviving occurrence.
05EDITORIAL REUSE
WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE