Mungo
name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A material of short fiber and inferior quality obtained by deviling woollen rags or the remnants of woollen goods, specifically those of felted, milled, or hard-spun woollen cloth, as distinguished from shoddy, or the deviled product of loose-textured woollen goods or worsted. countable, uncountable
"Tailors' clippings and remnants of fine woollen goods, such as broadcloth, etc., are devilled and spun into yarn for making cloth of nicer quality, called mungo."
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A male given name.
"The fever left his body, and he rose to stotter about the doors; but he was still in his torments, and the mercy-seat was far from him. At last in the back end of the year came Mungo Muirhead to Caulds to the autumn communion, and nothing would serve him but he must try his hand at the storm-tossed soul."
- 3 A locality in the Balranald council area, south-western New South Wales, Australia.
Example
More examples"Tailors' clippings and remnants of fine woollen goods, such as broadcloth, etc., are devilled and spun into yarn for making cloth of nicer quality, called mungo."
Etymology
Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic Mungo. This was the nickname of Kentigern, better known as Saint Mungo, the founder and patron saint of Glasgow.
Related phrases
More for "mungo"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.