mud

Etymology 1

From Middle English mud, mudde, mode, probably a borrowing from Middle Dutch mod, modde or Middle Low German mudde, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mud-, *mudra- (“mud”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mū-, *mew- (“moist”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Mudde (“mud”), Middle High German mot (“mud”), Swedish modd (“slush”). Compare also suffixed variants West Frisian modder (“mud”), Dutch modder (“mud”), German Low German Mudder (“mud”), German Moder (“moldiness, mildew, decay”), English mother (“vinegar-forming sediment in alcohol”), Danish mudder (“mud”). Alternative etymology suggests the Proto-Germanic word is possibly borrowed from a Uralic language (compare e.g. Finnish muta (“mud”), Northern Sami mođđi (“mud”), from Proto-Uralic *muďa).

noun

1. A mixture of water and soil or fine grained sediment.
2. A plaster-like mixture used to texture or smooth drywall.
3. (construction industry slang) Wet concrete as it is being mixed, delivered and poured.
4. (figurative) Willfully abusive, even slanderous remarks or claims, notably between political opponents.
   The campaign issues got lost in all the mud from both parties.
5. (slang) Money, dough, especially when proceeding from dirty business.
6. (gay sex, slang) Stool that is exposed as a result of anal sex.
7. (geology) A particle less than 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
8. (slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A black person.
   That includes muds, spics, kikes and niggers. 2013, Bill Pezza, Homegrown
   How could they be so gullible to think peace and love could be achieved with the muds burning down our cities […] 2015, Christian Picciolini, Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead
9. Drilling fluid.
10. (slang, originally US) Coffee.
11. (slang) Opium.
12. (slang) Heroin.

verb

1. (transitive) To make muddy or dirty; to apply mud to (something).
2. (transitive) To make turbid.
3. (intransitive) To go under the mud, as an eel does.

Etymology 2

From Dutch mud, from West Germanic, from Latin modius. Doublet of modius and muid.

noun

1. (historical) A traditional Dutch unit of dry measure of variable size, frequently about 3 bushels.
2. (historical) A traditional Dutch unit of land area, vaguely reckoned as the amount of land required to sow a mud of seed.
3. (historical) A kind of box traditionally used in the Netherlands for measuring muds.

Etymology 3

From MUD.

verb

1. (intransitive, Internet) To participate in a MUD or multi-user dungeon.
   Wizards, in general, have a very different experience of mudding than other players. Because of their palpable and extensive extra powers over other players, and because of their special role in MUD society, they are frequently treated differently[…] 1997, Philip Agre, Douglas Schuler, Reinventing technology, rediscovering community, page 153