Meanings
- abbreviationuncountableusuallybiologyShort for vegetable mucus
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA slippery secretion from the lining of the mucous membranes.
More synonyms by meaning
nounprotective secretion of the mucous membranes; in the gut it lubricates the passage of food and protects the epithelial cells; in the nose and throat and lungs it can make it difficult for bacteria to penetrate the body through the epithelium
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)mewk-
- Proto-Italic*moukos
- Latinmūcu
- Englishmucus
Learned borrowing from Latin mūcus. Partly displaced Old English slīm, whence modern slime.
More words from Latin, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μύξα, βλέννα
- μύξα (múxa)slippery secretion
- βλέννα (blénna)slippery secretion
Arabic مُخَاط, نُخَاعَة
- مُخَاط (muḵāṭ)slippery secretion
- نُخَاعَة (nuḵāʕa)slippery secretion
Bulgarian слуз
- слуз (sluz)slippery secretion
Catalan moc
- mocslippery secretion
Chinese Mandarin 黏液
- 黏液 (niányè)slippery secretion
Czech sliz
- slizslippery secretion
Danish slim
- slimslippery secretion
Dutch slijm
- slijmslippery secretion
Esperanto muko
- mukoslippery secretion
Estonian lima
- limaslippery secretion
Finnish lima
- limaslippery secretion
French mucus, mucosité
- mucusslippery secretion
- mucositéslippery secretion
German Schleim
- Schleimslippery secretion
Greek βλέννα
- βλέννα (vlénna)slippery secretion
Hawaiian wale
- waleslippery secretion
Hebrew רִיר
- רִיר (rir)slippery secretion
Hindi नाक
- नाक (nāk)slippery secretion
Hungarian nyálka
- nyálkaslippery secretion
Icelandic slím
- slímslippery secretion
Italian muco
- mucoslippery secretion
Japanese 粘液
- 粘液 (nen'eki)slippery secretion
Korean 점액
- 점액 (jeomaek)slippery secretion
Latin mūcus
- mūcusslippery secretion
Latvian gļotas
- gļotasslippery secretion
Lithuanian gleivės
- gleivėsslippery secretion
Malay lendir
- lendirslippery secretion
Māori hūpē, keha
- hūpēslippery secretion
- kehaslippery secretion
- keaslippery secretion
- hūwarewareslippery secretion
Norwegian Bokmål slim
- slimslippery secretion
Norwegian Nynorsk slim
- slimslippery secretion
Persian مخاط, خلم
- مخاط (moxât)slippery secretion
- خلم (xelm)slippery secretion
- لیزابه (lizābe)slippery secretion
Polish śluz, wydzielina
- śluzslippery secretion
- wydzielinaslippery secretion
Portuguese muco, ranho
- mucoslippery secretion
- ranhoslippery secretion
Punjabi ਸੀਂਢ
- ਸੀਂਢ (sīṇḍh)slippery secretion
Romanian muci, mucus
- mucislippery secretion
- mucusslippery secretion
Russian слизь
- слизь (slizʹ)slippery secretion
Scottish Gaelic ronn
- ronnslippery secretion
Slovak sliz
- slizslippery secretion
Spanish moco
- mocoslippery secretion
Swahili kamasi
- kamasislippery secretion
Swedish slem
- slemslippery secretion
Tagalog sipon
- siponslippery secretion
Thai มูก, เมือก
- มูก (mûuk)slippery secretion
- เมือก (mʉ̂ʉak)slippery secretion
- เสมหะ (sěem-hà)slippery secretion
Turkish mukus, sümük
- mukusslippery secretion
- sümükslippery secretion
Ukrainian слиз
- слиз (slyz)slippery secretion
Urdu مخاط
- مخاط (muxāt)slippery secretion
Vietnamese nước nhầy, niêm dịch
- nước nhầyslippery secretion
- niêm dịchslippery secretion
- chất nhớtslippery secretion
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mucus
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
mucus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mucus
“mucus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mucus. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mucus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mucus.
Source: mucus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.