Noun
1. a small rodent that typically has a pointed snout, relatively large ears and eyes, and a long tail
- Originated from the Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language) word for mouse "musuka" where "mus" means "thief" referring to the fact that mice steal food from humans.
- The ancient Romans then used the word "mus" to refer to all rodents - example of borrowing and broadening as the old meaning is kept and new meanings are added
- "Mus Maximus(big mouse)" Rat
- "Mus Minimus(little mouse" Mouse
Noun
2. a small handheld device which is moved across a mat or flat surface to move the cursor on a computer screen.
- The word "mouse" eventually was adopted to refer to a computer device in the 1960s.
- Douglas Englelbart and Bill English had named it a mouse because they though that the cord that comes out of the mouse resembled a tail - metaphoric change, based on similarity of thing
- They also named the cursor a "bug" but this never caught on
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