What is "mull"

Mull \Mull\ (m[u^]l), n. [Perh. contr. fr. mossul. See Muslin.] A thin, soft kind of muslin.

Mull \Mull\, v. t. [OE. mullen. See 2d Muller.] To powder; to pulverize. [Prov. Eng.]

Mull \Mull\, n. [Icel. m[=u]li a snout, muzzle, projecting crag; or cf. Ir. & Gael. meall a heap of earth, a mound, a hill or eminence, W. moel. Cf. Mouth.]

1. A promontory; as, the Mull of Cantyre. [Scot.]

2. A snuffbox made of the small end of a horn.

Mull \Mull\, n. [Prob. akin to mold. [root]108. See Mold.] Dirt; rubbish. [Obs.]
--Gower.

Mull \Mull\, v. i. To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate; -- usually with over; as, to mull over a thought or a problem. [Colloq. U.S.]

Mull \Mull\, n. An inferior kind of madder prepared from the smaller roots or the peelings and refuse of the larger.

Mull \Mull\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mulled (m[u^]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Mulling.] [From mulled, for mold, taken as a p. p.; OE. mold-ale funeral ale or banquet. See Mold soil.]

1. To heat, sweeten, and enrich with spices; as, to mull wine.

   New cider, mulled with ginger warm.
   --Gay.

2. To dispirit or deaden; to dull or blunt.
   --Shak.

"ponder," 1873, perhaps from a figurative use of Middle English mullyn "grind to powder, pulverize," from molle "dust, ashes, rubbish" (c.1300), probably from Middle Dutch mul "grit, loose earth," related to mill (n.1). But Webster's (1879) defined it as "to work steadily without accomplishing much," which may connect it to earlier identical word in athletics sense of "to botch, muff" (1862). Related: Mulled; mulling.

"sweeten, spice and heat a drink," c.1600, of unknown origin, perhaps from Dutch mol, a kind of white, sweet beer, or from Flemish molle a kind of beer, and related to words for "to soften." Related: Mulled; mulling.

"promontory" (in Scottish place names), late 14c., perhaps from Old Norse muli "a jutting crag, projecting ridge (between two valleys)," which probably is identical with muli "snout, muzzle." The Norse word is related to Old Frisian mula, Middle Dutch mule, muul, Old High German mula, German Maul "muzzle, mouth." Alternative etymology traces it to Gaelic maol "brow of a hill or rock," also "bald," from Old Celtic *mailo-s (cognates: Irish maol, Old Irish máel, máil, Welsh moel).

Etymology 1 n. 1 A thin, soft muslin. 2 (context uncountable English) marijuana that has been chopped to prepare it for smoking. 3 A stew of meat, broth, milk, butter, vegetables, and seasonings, thickened with soda crackers. 4 The gauze used in bookbinding to adhere a text block to a book's cover. 5 An inferior kind of madder prepared from the smaller roots or the peelings and refuse of the larger. vb. 1 To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate; usually with over. 2 To powder; to pulverize. 3 To chop marijuana so that it becomes a smokable form. 4 To heat and spice something, such as wine. 5 To join two or more individual windows at mullions. 6 To dull or stupefy. Etymology 2

n. 1 (context Scotland English) A promontory. 2 A snuffbox made of the small end of a horn. Etymology 3

n. dirt; rubbish

1. v. reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate" [syn: chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull over, ruminate, speculate]

2. heat with sugar and spices to make a hot drink; "mulled cider"

1. n. a term used in Scottish names of promontories; "the Mull of Kintyre"

2. an island in western Scotland in the Inner Hebrides

Mull, also known as the Isle of Mull, is a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides.

Mull may also refer to:

Mull is a 1988 Australian drama film directed by Don McLennan. The film is based on the popular 1986 book, Mullaway by Bronwen 'Bron' Nichols.

Mull (, ) is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye), off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute.

With an area of Mull is the fourth largest Scottish island and the fourth largest island surrounding Great Britain (excluding Ireland). In the 2011 census the usual resident population of Mull was 2,800 a slight rise on the 2001 figure of 2,667; in the summer this is supplemented by many tourists. Much of the population lives in Tobermory, the only burgh on the island until 1973, and its capital.

Tobermory is also home to Mull's only single malt Scotch whisky distillery: Tobermory distillery (formerly Ledaig).

Mull is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Maol, a term for a rounded hill, summit, or mountain, bare of trees (it has also been used, in Gaelic, to refer to a forehead, or to a shaved head). As an adjective, the word is used to indicate something which is bare, dull, or bald. In Scotland, the term is most commonly used in the southwest, where it is often applied to headlands or promontories, and, often more specifically, for the tip of that promontory or peninsula.

Gaelic spelling rules require that maol, in certain syntactical arrangements, be lenited: that is, an h is inserted after the first letter, if the first letter is a consonant (and not an l, n, or r). This h makes the preceding consonant silent, or changes its sound (mh, or bh, for instance, are silent or sound like an English v). Gaelic spelling rules also require that, with the first letter lenited, the last vowel should be slender (an i, or an e). As both vowels in maol are broad, an i is inserted after. These two changes alter the sound of maol (rhymes with mull) to mhaoil (rhymes with uell, or well), as in Creachmhaoil (creach + maol). Consequently, maol, where it appears combined in place names, may not be Anglicized as mull. Creachmhaoil is typically Anglicized (as a toponym) as Craughwell. The reverse is also true, and though mull appears in numerous Irish and Scottish toponyms, a convoluted history of Anglicizations means that in many it may have no connection to the word maol.

The Gaelic mullach (often found as mullagh) is a variation of maol/mull. Dwelly's (Scottish) Gaelic-to-English dictionary gives the basic definition: the top, summit, or extremity of anything. It is common in the names of Irish prominences, such as Mullaghmore (An Mullach Mór), Mullaghaneany, Mullaghcloga, and Mullaghcarn.

Notable mulls include:

• The Mull of Kintyre
• The Mull of Galloway
• The Mull of Oa, otherwise simply the Oa, a headland on Islay
• The Mull of Cara, a promontory at the south of Cara Island
• The Mull of Logan, a promontory on the Rhins of Galloway
• Mull Head, a headland on the Orkney Mainland
• Creachmhaoil in County Galway, in Ireland.
• Mull Hill, Isle of Man.

Mull, the Inner Hebridean island's name has a different, pre-Gaelic derivation.

Mull is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Brandon Mull (born 1974), American writer
• Carter Mull (born 1977), American artist
• Clay Mull (born 1979), American speed skater
• Gary Mull (1937–1993), American yacht designer
• J. Bazzel Mull (1914–2006), American religious broadcaster
• Jack Mull (born 1943), American baseball player, coach and manager
• Martin Mull (born 1943), American actor
• Press Mull (active in 1951), American football coach
• Stephen Mull (born 1958), American diplomat