The story
- Middle English · inherited frommousere
- English todaymouse-ear
From Middle English mousere, musere, equivalent to mouse + ear, in reference to the shape of the leaves.
Words from the same roots
Middle Englishmousere all →
mouser
First known use, by meaning
- from 14th c. A type of small hawkweed native to Eurasia (mouse-ear hawkweed, Pilosella officinarum), commonly found on dry grasslands.
- from 16th c. A plant of the genus Cerastium (mouse-eared chickweed).
- from 16th c. A forget-me-not (genus Myosotis).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.