- mole (1)
- "spot on skin," O.E. mal "spot, mark," especially on cloth or linen, from P.Gmc. *mailan "spot, mark" (cf. O.H.G. meil, Ger. Mal, Goth. mail "wrinkle"), from PIE base *mei-/*mai- "to stain, defile" (cf. Gk. miainein "to stain, defile," see miasma). Of human skin, attested from late 14c.
- mole (2)
- "burrowing mammal," late 14c., probably from obsolete mouldwarp, lit. "earth-thrower" (common Gmc., cf. O.S. moldwerp, O.H.G. multwurf), from to O.E. molde "earth, soil" (see mold (3)) + weorpan "to throw away" (see warp). Spy sense first recorded 1974 in John le Carré, from notion of "burrowing." Metaphoric use for "one who works in darkness" is from c.1600.
"To much amplifying thinges yt. be but small, makyng mountaines of Molehils." [John Foxe, "Acts and Monuments," 1570]
- mole (3)
- "breakwater," 1548, from M.Fr. môle "breakwater," from L. moles "mass, massive structure, barrier," from PIE base *mo- "to exert oneself."
- mole (4)
- unit of molecular quantity, 1902, from Ger. Mol (1900), short for Molekül (see molecule).