Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1776-1795, 1846-1873
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MULL, n.1, adj. Also maoil; mool. [mʌl; s.Ayr., Gall. m(jʌ)ul, mɔil]
I. n. A promontory, a bluff, headland. Now chiefly in place-names, the Mull of Kintyre, the Mull of Galloway.Ayr. 1776 Dmf. Weekly Mag. (21 May) 352:
John Muir, a servant at the Mool of Galloway.Arg. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 VIII. 57, note:
Maol, adj., signifies bare or bald, as ceann maol, baldhead. Hence it is applied to exposed points of land or promontories, and then becomes a substantive noun, and is written maoil, e.g., maoil of Kintyre, maoil of Galloway, maoil of Cara.Sc. 1846 J. McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 242:
The coasts of Scotland . . . are very much indented, the shores extend into lengthened headlands or mulls.
II. adj. Hornless, in comb. mull-cow, a cow without horns (Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 319). Derivs. mullock, mulloch, n., id. (Ib.; Ayr. 1869 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 724; Kcb.3 1920); a young stag without horns. Cf. Moylie.wm.Sc. 1868 Laird of Logan 509 App.:
A stag has horns, a mullock it has nane.Ayr. 1873 A. Aitken Poems 20:
But we hae oatmeal an' the auld fleckit cow. An' O my dear Peggy, we're thankfu' for mulloch.
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"Mull n.1, adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 3 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/mull_n1_adj>
