An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Maus

by Friedrich Kluge

Maus (1.), ‘mouse,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. mûs, f.; comp. Du. muis, AS. mûs, f., E. mouse, OIc. mús (Goth. *mûs), f., ‘mouse.’ In the consonantal form of the stem, mûs-, it is the common Teut. as well as the common Aryan term for ‘mouse.’ The name occurs in almost all the Aryan languages, a proof that the Aryans in their primit. Asiatic home were already acquainted with the tiny animal, chiefly through its thefts, mûs- being derived from an OAryan root, mū̆s, ‘to steal,’ which exists in the Franc. chrêomosido, ‘plundering dead bodies,’ of the Lex Salica, and signifying ‘thief’ (it is possible, however, that the mū̆s, ‘to steal,’ is deduced from mûs, ‘mouse’). Comp. Sans. mûš, ‘mouse,’ with the root muš, mušây, ‘to take away, rob’; also Gr. μῦς, OSlov. myšĭ, f. Comp. further the following word.

Maus (2.), prop. ‘muscles on the arm and foot,’ now espec. ‘ball of the thumb,’ from MidHG. mûs, f., ‘muscles especially of the upper part of the arm’; OHG. mûs, AS. mûs, Du. muis, have the same sense; prop. identical with Maus (1). In other cases too names of animals are applied to parts of the body. Comp. Gr. μῦς, ‘muscle,’ μυών, ‘cluster of muscles,’ Lat. mus-culus, ‘muscle,’ lit. ‘little mouse,’ OSlov. myšĭca, ‘arm,’ Sans. muš-ka, ‘testicle, pudenda muliebria,’ lit. ‘little mouse.’