mustang

[muhs-tang]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mustang ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, hardy horse of the American plains, descended from Spanish stock.

U.S. Navy Slang. a naval officer who received his commission while still an enlisted man.

verb (used without object)

to round up wild horses, especially in order to sell them illegally to slaughterhouses.

Origin of mustang

1800–10, Americanism; < Spanish mestengo stray or ownerless beast, noun use of masculine adj.: pertaining to a mixed lot of beasts, equivalent to mest(a) such a mixed lot (< Latin (animālia) mixta mixed (beasts), neuter plural adj., taken as feminine singular noun; see mixed) + -engo adj. suffix

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

Related Words for mustang

colt, mare, stallion, filly, nag, crib, glass, trot, racehorse, cayuse, mustang, pinto, plug, pony, foal, steed, gelding, bronco

Examples from the Web for mustang

Contemporary Examples of mustang

You can put mag wheels on a Gremlin,” commented one long time Michigan observer, “but that doesn't make it a Mustang.
The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead
Joel Kotkin, Richey Piiparinen
December 7, 2014
Hundreds of trekkers were on the popular Annapurna Circuit in the Mustang area of Nepal when disaster struck last week.
Nepal’s Deadliest Avalanche Was Totally Avoidable
Dick Dorworth
October 20, 2014
Mmmhops is a tasty pale ale created in partnership with Mustang Brewing.
Hanson Got Me Drunk on Their New Beer, Mmmhops (Really)
Kevin Fallon
September 18, 2013
He had the distinction of becoming a “mustang,” a Marine enlisted man elevated to officer.
The First American Casualties of our Iraq “Adventure”
Michael Daly
March 20, 2013
“I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck,” the candidate said.
Mitt Romney’s Most Awkward Moments
The Daily Beast Video
January 10, 2012

Historical Examples of mustang

Another instant and his own mustang was spurred in close by the strugglers.
A Breath of Prairie and other stories
Will Lillibridge
"Both of you had better go back, on the one mustang," said Amos Radbury.
For the Liberty of Texas
Edward Stratemeyer
The second mustang was slightly injured, but could still be ridden.
For the Liberty of Texas
Edward Stratemeyer
Then came a snap of the lariat, and Ralph went down, with the mustang on top of him.
For the Liberty of Texas
Edward Stratemeyer
I wonder what became of the mustang, and where Ralph and the ponies are?
For the Liberty of Texas
Edward Stratemeyer

British Dictionary definitions for mustang

mustang

noun

a small breed of horse, often wild or half wild, found in the southwestern US

Word Origin for mustang

C19: from Mexican Spanish mestengo, from mesta a group of stray animals

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 mustang

"small, half-wild horse of the American prairie," 1808, from Mexican Spanish mestengo "animal that strays" (16c.), from Spanish mestengo "wild, stray, ownerless," literally "belonging to the mesta," an association of cattle ranchers who divided stray or unclaimed animals that got "mixed" with the herds, from Latin mixta "mixed," fem. past participle of miscere "to mix" (see mix (v.)).

Said to be influenced by the Spanish word mostrenco "straying, wild," which is probably from mostrar, from Latin monstrare "to show."