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mo·gul¹

(mōgəl)

1. A small hard mound of snow on a ski slope, cast up over numerous runs by the skis of skiers as they turn.

2. One of a set of closely spaced, artificially constructed mounds forming the course for certain competitive skiing events.

3. moguls(used with a sing. or pl. verb) A skiing event held on such a course.

[Alteration (probably influenced by MOGUL²) of mid-20th century American skiers' jargon mugel, from Bavarian dialectal (Austria) Mugl, hillock; perhaps akin to Old English mūga, mow, haystack; see MOW¹.]

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mogul¹

mo·gul²

(mōgəl, mō-gŭl)

1. A very rich or powerful person; a magnate.

2. Mogul Variant of Mughal.

[Urdu muġal, muġul, Mughal; see MUGHAL.]

Mu·ghal

(m-gŭl) or Mo·gul (mōgəl, mō-gŭl)

1. A member of the force that under Baber invaded India in 1526.

2. A member of the Muslim dynasty founded by Baber that ruled India until 1857.

[Urdu muġal, muġul, from Persian muġul, from Mongolian Moṅgol, Mongol.]

Mu·ghal adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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