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

Martin Bui blesses a mustang horse named Cedar for the blessing of the animals on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi at Saint Nicholas Catholic Church in Laguna Woods on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. —Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register, 5 Oct. 2024

Weber and Weber identify another common Central Texas native, the winter grape, also known as Heller's grape or Spanish grape, which looks almost exactly like the mustang, but without the concave leaves or wooly underbellies. —Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 10 May 2024

Like Westward Expansion, half of Austin came out to see Chappell Roan in a great migration saddled up on pink ponies instead of mustangs. —Deborah Sengupta Stith, Mars Salazar, Lily Kepner, Ramon Ramirez, Austin American-Statesman, 8 Oct. 2024

Get up go to work and come home, maybe buy a mustang ... —Carl Weiser, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 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