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mu·tu·al 
Audio Help [myoo-choo-uhl] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [myoo-choo-uhl] Pronunciation Key –adjective
–noun
| 1. | possessed, experienced, performed, etc., by each of two or more with respect to the other; reciprocal: to have mutual respect. |
| 2. | having the same relation each toward the other: to be mutual enemies. |
| 3. | of or pertaining to each of two or more; held in common; shared: mutual interests. |
| 4. | having or pertaining to a form of corporate organization in which there are no stockholders, and profits, losses, expenses, etc., are shared by members in proportion to the business each transacts with the company: a mutual company. |
| 5. | Informal. a mutual fund. |
[Origin: 1470–80; < MF mutuel < L mūtu(us) mutual, reciprocal (mūt(āre) to change (see mutate) + -uus deverbal adj. suffix) + MF -el (< L -ālis) -al1]
] —Related forms
mu·tu·al·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. Mutual, reciprocal agree in the idea of an exchange or balance between two or more persons or groups. Mutual indicates an exchange of a feeling, obligation, etc., between two or more people, or an interchange of some kind between persons or things: mutual esteem; in mutual agreement. Reciprocal indicates a relation in which one act, thing, feeling, etc., balances or is given in return for another: reciprocal promises or favors.
—Usage note The earliest (15th century) and still a current meaning of mutual is “reciprocal,” specifying the relation of two or more persons or things to each other: Their admiration is mutual. Teachers and students sometimes suffer from a mutual misunderstanding. Mutual soon developed the sense of “having in common, shared”: Their mutual objective is peace. This latter sense has been in use since the 16th century and is entirely standard. It is occasionally criticized, not on the grounds of ambiguity but on the grounds that the later sense development is somehow wrong. Mutual in the sense of “shared” may have been encouraged by the title of Charles Dickens's novel Our Mutual Friend (1864–65), but Dickens was not the innovator. The fact that common also has the sense “ordinary, unexceptional” and “coarse, vulgar” may have contributed to the use of mutual instead of common in designating a shared friend.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
mutual
To learn more about mutual visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| mu·tu·al
Audio Help (myōō'chōō-əl) Pronunciation Key
adj.
n. A mutual fund. [French mutuel, from Old French, from Latin mūtuus, borrowed; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.] mu'tu·al'i·ty (-āl'ĭ-tē) n., mu'tu·al·ly adv. Usage Note: Mutual is used to describe a reciprocal relationship between two or more people or things. Thus their mutual animosity means "their animosity for each other" or "the animosity between them," and a mutual defense treaty is one in which each party agrees to come to the defense of the other. But many people also use mutual to mean "shared in common," as in The bill serves the mutual interests of management and labor. This usage is perhaps most familiar in the expression our mutual friend, which was widespread even before Charles Dickens used it as the title of a novel. While some language critics have objected to this usage because it does not include the notion of reciprocity, it appears in the writing of some of our greatest authors, including Shakespeare, Edmund Burke, George Eliot, and James Joyce, and it continues to be used by well-respected writers today. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
mutual
1477, originally of feelings, from M.Fr. mutuel (14c.), from L. mutuus "reciprocal, done in exchange," from PIE base *mei- "to change" (see mutable).
"The essence of its meaning is that it involves the relation x is or does to y as y to x; & not the relation, x is or does to z as y to z" [Fowler]Mutual Admiration Society (1851) seems to have been coined by Thoreau.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| mutual | |
adjective | |
| 1. | common to or shared by two or more parties; "a common friend"; "the mutual interests of management and labor" [syn: common] |
| 2. | concerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return; "reciprocal aid"; "reciprocal trade"; "mutual respect"; "reciprocal privileges at other clubs" [syn: reciprocal] [ant: nonreciprocal] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
mutual1 [ˈmjuːtʃuəl] adjective
given etc by each of two or more to the other(s)
Example: mutual help; Their dislike was mutual.
mutual2 [ˈmjuːtʃuəl] adjectiveExample: mutual help; Their dislike was mutual.
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common to, or shared by, two or more
Example: a mutual friend
Example: a mutual friend
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Mutual, OK (town, FIPS 50150) Location: 36.22978 N, 99.16733 W
Population (1990): 68 (43 housing units)
Area: 0.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 73853
Mutual, OH (village, FIPS 53480) Location: 40.07906 N, 83.63735 W
Population (1990): 126 (54 housing units)
Area: 0.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
| U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau |
Mutual
Com"mon\, a. [Compar. Commoner; superl. Commonest.] [OE. commun, comon, OF. comun, F. commun, fr. L. communis; com- + munis ready to be of service; cf. Skr. mi to make fast, set up, build, Goth. gamains common, G. gemein, and E. mean low, common. Cf. Immunity, Commune, n. & v.]1. Belonging or relating equally, or similarly, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property. Though life and sense be common to men and brutes. --Sir M. Hale. 2. Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, considered together; general; public; as, properties common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer. Such actions as the common good requireth. --Hooker. The common enemy of man. --Shak. 3. Often met with; usual; frequent; customary. Grief more than common grief. --Shak. 4. Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense. The honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life. --W. Irving. This fact was infamous And ill beseeming any common man, Much more a knight, a captain and a leader. --Shak. Above the vulgar flight of common souls. --A. Murphy. 5. Profane; polluted. [Obs.] What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. --Acts x. 15. 6. Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute. A dame who herself was common. --L'Estrange. Common bar (Law) Same as Blank bar, under Blank. Common barrator (Law), one who makes a business of instigating litigation. Common Bench, a name sometimes given to the English Court of Common Pleas. Common brawler (Law), one addicted to public brawling and quarreling. See Brawler. Common carrier (Law), one who undertakes the office of carrying (goods or persons) for hire. Such a carrier is bound to carry in all cases when he has accommodation, and when his fixed price is tendered, and he is liable for all losses and injuries to the goods, except those which happen in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the country, or of the owner of the property himself. Common chord (Mus.), a chord consisting of the fundamental tone, with its third and fifth. Common council, the representative (legislative) body, or the lower branch of the representative body, of a city or other municipal corporation. Common crier, the crier of a town or city. Common divisor (Math.), a number or quantity that divides two or more numbers or quantities without a remainder; a common measure. Common gender (Gram.), the gender comprising words that may be of either the masculine or the feminine gender. Common law, a system of jurisprudence developing under the guidance of the courts so as to apply a consistent and reasonable rule to each litigated case. It may be superseded by statute, but unless superseded it controls. --Wharton. Note: It is by others defined as the unwritten law (especially of England), the law that receives its binding force from immemorial usage and universal reception, as ascertained and expressed in the judgments of the courts. This term is often used in contradistinction from statute law. Many use it to designate a law common to the whole country. It is also used to designate the whole body of English (or other) law, as distinguished from its subdivisions, local, civil, admiralty, equity, etc. See Law. Common lawyer, one versed in common law. Common lewdness (Law), the habitual performance of lewd acts in public. Common multiple (Arith.) See under Multiple. Common noun (Gram.), the name of any one of a class of objects, as distinguished from a proper noun (the name of a particular person or thing). Common nuisance (Law), that which is deleterious to the health or comfort or sense of decency of the community at large. Common pleas, one of the three superior courts of common law at Westminster, presided over by a chief justice and four puisne judges. Its jurisdiction is confined to civil matters. Courts bearing this title exist in several of the United States, having, however, in some cases, both civil and criminal jurisdiction extending over the whole State. In other States the jurisdiction of the common pleas is limited to a county, and it is sometimes called a county court. Its powers are generally defined by statute. Common prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England, or of the Protestant Episcopal church of the United States, which all its clergy are enjoined to use. It is contained in the Book of Common Prayer. Common school, a school maintained at the public expense, and open to all. Common scold (Law), a woman addicted to scolding indiscriminately, in public. Common seal, a seal adopted and used by a corporation. Common sense. (a) A supposed sense which was held to be the common bond of all the others. [Obs.] --Trench. (b) Sound judgment. See under Sense. Common time (Mus.), that variety of time in which the measure consists of two or of four equal portions. In common, equally with another, or with others; owned, shared, or used, in community with others; affecting or affected equally. Out of the common, uncommon; extraordinary. Tenant in common, one holding real or personal property in common with others, having distinct but undivided interests. See Joint tenant, under Joint. To make common cause with, to join or ally one's self with. Syn: General; public; popular; national; universal; frequent; ordinary; customary; usual; familiar; habitual; vulgar; mean; trite; stale; threadbare; commonplace. See Mutual, Ordinary, General.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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