mola

[ moh-luh ]

/ ˈmoʊ lə /

noun, plural (especially collectively) mo·la, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) mo·las.

any of several thin, silvery fishes of the family Molidae, of tropical and temperate seas.

Nearby words

moksha, mol, mol wt, mol., mol. wt., mola, molal, molality, molar, molar absorption coefficient, molar heat capacity

Compare ocean sunfish.

Origin of mola

1595–1605; < Latin: millstone; so called from its shape

Definition for mola (2 of 2)

mola

[ moh-luh; Spanish maw-lah ]

/ ˈmoʊ lə; Spanish ˈmɔ lɑ /

noun, plural mo·las [moh-luh z; Spanish maw-lahs] /ˈmoʊ ləz; Spanish ˈmɔ lɑs/.

a colorfully appliquéd piece of fabric handcrafted by the Cuna Indian women of the islands in the Gulf of San Blas and used for clothing, decoration, etc.

Origin of mola

1940–45; < Cuna: clothing, blouse, mola

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mola

Left Mola at half-past seven and got here at ten minutes after seven.
The Greville Memoirs|Charles C. F. Greville
Mola, we are surprised to find ranked as Swiss; for he is altogether, in art, Italian.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 54, No. 338, December 1843|Various
This fish (Orthagoriscus mola), which we know as the Sun-fish, has been repeatedly taken here.
Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk|Thomas Browne
If the ascent to Mola is difficult, what can be said of the coming down?
Vistas in Sicily|Arthur Stanley Riggs

No doubt the mola of Domesday Book consisted of one pair of stones connected by rude gearing with a water-wheel.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5|Various

British Dictionary definitions for mola

mola

/ (ˈməʊlə) /

noun plural -la or -las

another name for sunfish (def. 1)

Word Origin for mola

C17: from Latin, literally: millstone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mola (1 of 2)

mola

n.1

type of fish, 1670s, from Latin mola, literally "millstone" (see molar). So called because of the fish's shape and rough skin.

Word Origin and History for mola (1 of 2)

mola

n.2

"false conception," c.1600, from Latin mola "false conception," from earlier sense "salt cake;" literally "millstone" (see molar).