muttony

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

mut•ton¹ /ˈmʌtən/   n. [uncountable]

1. Food the flesh of a mature sheep, used as food.

mut•ton•y, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

mut•ton¹  (mut′n), n. 

1. Food the flesh of sheep, esp. full-grown or more mature sheep, used as food.

• Celtic; compare Middle Irish molt, Welsh mollt, Breton maout wether
• Old French
• Middle English moton sheep 1250–1300

mut′ton•y, adj. 

mut•ton²  (mut′n), n. [Print.]

1. Printing em (def. 2). Also called mut. 

• code term, coined to differentiate the pronunciation of em quad from en quad 1935–40