LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

mūs

mūs m or f (genitive mūris)
Classical[ˈmuːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈmus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. a mouse; a rat ((classically) the European black rat (Rattus rattus))
    Quasi mures semper edere alienum cibum.Like mice they always ate the food of other people.c. 197 BCE, Plautus, Persa 1.2.6
  2. broadlywith various qualifiers, used indiscriminately to describe any rodent or mouse-looking animal
    mūs arāneusshrew
    mūs Alpīnusmarmot
  3. endearingas a term of endearment
    Nam cum me murem, cum me tua lumina dicis,86 CE – 103 CE, Martialis, Epigrammata 11.29.3–4
  4. derogatoryas a term of abuse
    Vix me teneo, nec sum natura caldicerebrius, cum coepi, matrem meam dupundii non facio. Recte, videbo te in publicum, mus, immo terrae tuber:[…]c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 58.4
  5. New Latina computer mouse
  6. New Latina sea mouse (Aphrodita aculeata)

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

parvum animal; cibum nocte capit. In omnī tabulā huius librī ūnus mūs sē cēlat — quaere eum!
mūs mūris m — in Mille Verba, Animālia

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemūsmūrēs
genitivemūrismūrium
mūrum
dativemūrīmūribus
accusativemūremmūrēs
mūrīs
ablativemūremūribus
vocativemūsmūrēs

mūs, mūris (
I. gen. plur. murum, Arn. 3, 3; usually murium, Cic. N. D. 2, 63, 157; Plin. 8, 27, 41, § 98; v. Neue, Formenl. 1, 286 sq.), comm. kindred to Greek μῦς; Sanscr. mūsh, the same, from mūsh, furari, a mouse: non solum inquilini, sed etiam mures migraverunt, Cic. Att. 14, 9, 1: exiguus, Verg. G. 1, 181: rusticus, urbanus, Hor. S. 2, 6, 80 al.—Prov., v. mons, I.: neque enim homines murium aut formicarum causā frumentum condunt, Cic. N. D. 2, 63, 158.—Compared with parasites: quasi mures semper edimus alienum cibum, Plaut. Pers. 1, 2, 6.—The ancients included under this name the rat, marten, sable, er mine, e. g. mures domestici, agrestes, aranei, Pontici, Libyci, marini, Plin. 8, 57, 82, § 221; 9, 19, 35, § 71; 10, 65, 85, § 185: pelles, perh. ermine, Amm. 31, 2, 5: Africani, Plin. 30, 6, 14, § 43: odorati, musk - rats, Hier. Ep. 127, 3.—As a term of abuse, you rat: videbo te in publicum, mus, imo terrae tuber, Petr. 58.—As a term of endearment: cum me murem dicis, my little mouse, Mart. 11, 29, 3.—
II. Mus marinus, a kind of crustaceous sea - fish, Plin. 9, 19, 35, § 71; Enn. ap. App. Mag. p. 299 (Heduph. v. 2 Vahl.).
Mūs, muris, m.,
I. a Roman surname, e. g. D. Decius Mus, Liv. 10, 14; Cic. Sest. 21, 48; id. Sen. 13, 43.

Origins

Inherited from Proto-Italic *mūs, from Proto-Indo-European *múHs. Cognates include Ancient Greek μῦς (mûs), Sanskrit मूष् (mū́ṣ), Old English mūs (English mouse), Old High German mūs (German Maus), Proto-Slavic *myšь (Russian мышь (myšʹ)).

Elsewhere
  • Italianmure
  • Portuguesemurefrom Old Galician-Portuguese mur
  • Portuguesemurofrom Old Galician-Portuguese mur
  • Romanshmieur
  • Venetanmoreja
  • Venetanmorecia
  • Asturianmurarfrom Asturian mur
  • Asturianmurerafrom Asturian mur
  • Leonesemurar
  • Galicianmurarfrom Old Galician-Portuguese mur
Occitan
  • Provençalmuret
  • Valadasmurefrom Vivaro-Alpine muret
Padanian
  • Lombardmuson
  • Piedmontesemusèt
  • Piedmontesemuson
Northern Gallo-Romance
  • Franco-Provençalmusèt

Quick answers

What does mūs mean in Latin?
mūs, a noun, means “a mouse; a rat ((classically) the European black rat (Rattus rattus)); with various qualifiers, used indiscriminately to describe any rodent or mouse-looking animal”.
What is the genitive of mūs?
The genitive singular is mūris. mūs is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce mūs?
In classical Latin, [ˈmuːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmus].