Mongol, n. and a.
(ˈmɒŋgɒl)
Also 8 Mungul, -al, 8–9 Mongul, 9 -ghol, -gole.
[The native name, said to be f. mong ‘brave’. Cf. Mogul.]
A. n.
1. One of an Asiatic race now chiefly inhabiting Mongolia, a large territory situated between China proper and Siberia, but formerly extending into eastern Europe; also more widely, one of the Mongolian race, a Mongolian.
| 1738 tr. Strahlenberg's Descr. Russ., etc. 138 Those few Mungals of King Ill-chan's Army, who [etc.]. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. lxv. VI. 358 Timour dispatched..a numerous army..to subdue the Pagan Calmucks and Mungals. 1837 Pop. Encycl. V. 33/1 Having subjugated Russia, the Monguls entered Poland in 1240. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 744/1 Lamaism has always had a great attraction in the eyes of the Mongols. |
2. (Also with lower-case initial.) A person afflicted with mongolism.
| [1866: see Mongolian a. and n. A. 3.] 1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Sept. 617/1 There is probably in the Mongol a more profound and general condition of intrauterine failure of development than in the cretin. 1913 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. XL. 338 Mentally, mongols are as a rule quiet, good tempered, and easily amused. 1926 Lancet 23 Jan. 190/2 The resemblance between the Mongol and the cretin has naturally produced an endocrine theory. 1932 [see B. 2 below]. 1960 Guardian 29 Apr. 6/5 The number of adult mongols was likely to increase fairly steadily. 1970 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. II. xxxi. 17/1 A variety of cytogenetic aberrations have been found amongst the 2–5 per cent of mongols who are neither simple trisomics nor trisomic/normal mosaics. |
B. adj.
1. Pertaining to or characteristic of the Mongols, their country, or language; Mongolian.
| 1763 Scrafton Indostan (1770) 18 The Tartars, or the Mungul Tartars..are commonly called Moguls. 1799 Monthly Rev. XXX. 489 The Nogais still bear..in their countenance the marks of their Mongul descent. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 867/1 The Monghol and Manchu languages. 1857 Dufferin Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 254 Oblique Mongol eyes. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 741/2 An expedition into Syria, by which the country was made tributary to the Great Mongol Empire. 1883 Ibid. 749/2 The Mongol tongue is a member of the great stock which recent scholars designate as Finno-Tataric or Ural-Altaic. |
2. (Also with lower-case initial.) Pertaining to or affected with mongolism; = Mongolian a. and n. A. 3.
| 1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Sept. 617/1 There are at present in the Royal Albert Asylum 19 Mongol idiots in a population of 560. 1932 Shrubsall & Williams Mental Deficiency Pract. xiii. 206 In mongols, laxity of the joints is very characteristic, and mongol imbeciles tend in sitting naturally, to take up the crossed position of the Buddha in contemplation. 1965 [see Down's syndrome]. 1970 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. II. xxxi. 18/1 The greatly increased risk of having mongol offspring is the reason why every effort should be made to discover translocation carriers so that appropriate genetic advice may be given. 1974 G. F. Newman Price ii. 68 He made contributions to the maintenance of his ex-wife and her mongol son. |