mull
/mʌl/verb, noun
mull is spelled M-U-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, mull means “To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mull?
| Letters | 4: M-U-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,168th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mull?
Mull appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mull?
- US /mʌl/
- /mʊl/
Mull has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mull.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with mull?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mull from its last stressed vowel (/ʌl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mull
- mulls present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- mulling participle, present
- mulled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mull mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate.
to mull a thought or a problem
- 2
To powder; to pulverize.
- 3
To chop marijuana so that it becomes a smokable form.
- 4
To heat and spice something, such as wine.
- 5
To join two or more individual windows at mullions.
- 6
To dull or stupefy.
- 7
archaicslangTo bungle or botch.
noun
- 1
Marijuana that has been chopped to prepare it for smoking.
- 2
A stew of meat, broth, milk, butter, vegetables, and seasonings, thickened with soda crackers.
- 3
The gauze used in bookbinding to adhere a text block to a book's cover.
- 4
An inferior kind of madder prepared from the smaller roots or the peelings and refuse of the larger.
- 5
archaicslangA mess of something; a mistake.
- 6
Dirt, dust, or other waste matter.
- 7
A thin, soft muslin.
- 8
ScotlandA promontory.
the Mull of Kintyre
- 9
A snuffbox made of the small end of a horn.
Charles Dickens quoted in 1872, John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens Much in this manner they exhibit at the door of a snuff-shop the effigy of a Highlander with an empty mull in his hand, who, apparently having taken all the snuff he
- 10
Friable forest humus that forms a layer of mixed organic matter and mineral soil and merges gradually into the mineral soil beneath.
noun
- 1
obsoleteslangA member of the Service belonging to the Madras Presidency.
[R]esidents of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras are, in Eastern parlance, designated 'Qui Hies,' 'Ducks,' and 'Mulls.'
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mull in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to work over mentally:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | réfléchir, considérer, ruminer, gamberger |
| German | erwägen, grübeln |
| Portuguese | cogitar, ponderar |
| Spanish | discursar (sobre), dar vueltas (a), barajar, cavilar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mull come from?
Inherited from Middle English molle, mulle (“dust, rubbish”), possibly from Old English myl (“dust, mould”), from Proto-West Germanic *muli, a deverbal formation from *mulljan and thus cognate with Dutch mul (“dust, mould”), German Müll (“rubbish”), Swedish moln (“cloud”) and related to English mill (“to grind”). Alternatively, from Middle French mol or its etymon Latin mollis (“soft”). Some verbal senses are supplied by Middle English mollen (“to soften, dissolve”), from Old French moillier, from Latin *molliāre (“to steep”), itself from mollis; compare moil.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).