mustang

noun

mus·​tang ˈmə-ˌstaŋ 

1

: a small hardy naturalized horse of U.S. western plains directly descended from horses brought in by the Spaniards

also : bronc

2

slang : a commissioned officer (as in the U.S. Navy) who has risen from the ranks

Examples of mustang in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bui climbed into a horse trailer to bless Cedar, a mustang. —Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register, 5 Oct. 2024

Staples said looking back, she’s never felt more of a purpose in her life than rescuing and reuniting wild mustangs. —Cathy Free, Washington Post, 4 July 2024

Last year, 31 mustangs were killed during a Bureau of Land Management helicopter roundup of 2,000 horses in Nevada. —Cathy Free, Washington Post, 4 July 2024

The sculpture was built in the early 1980s and symbolizes Texas’ untamed past as a group of mustangs running across a stream. —Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Mexican Spanish mestengo, from Spanish, stray, from mesteño strayed, from mesta annual roundup of cattle that disposed of strays, from Medieval Latin (animalia) mixta mixed animals

First Known Use

1808, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mustang

noun

mus·​tang ˈməs-ˌtaŋ 

1

: a small hardy wild horse of the western plains of the U.S. that is directly descended from horses brought in by the Spaniards

2

: bronco sense 1

Etymology

from American Spanish mestengo "a wild or stray horse," from Spanish mestengo "a stray animal," derived from mesta "an annual roundup of stray cattle," from Latin (animalia) mixta "mixed animals"

Word Origin

Many American cowboy practices can be traced back to those of northern Mexico. One such practice is a yearly roundup of unbranded or stray cattle. Centuries ago in Spain, cattle without owners were rounded up each year and sold. The Spanish word for this roundup was mesta, which came from a Latin phrase that meant "mixed animals." From mesta, the Spanish created the word mestengo, meaning "a wild or stray animal." In the form of Spanish spoken in Mexico, mestengo came to be used for wild or stray horses. As these horses became common in the western plains of the U.S., English borrowed the Mexican Spanish word mestengo as mustang.

Geographical Definition

Mustang

geographical name

Mu·​stang mu̇-ˈstäŋ 

variants or locally Lo

ˈlō 

historical Himalayan kingdom in remote northern Nepal bordered by Tibet on the west, north, and east