Mahound

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /məˈhuːnd/, /məˈhaÊŠnd/

Alternative forms

• Mahoune 15th-16th c.

Origin

From Anglo-Norman Mahun, Old French Mahum, Mahom, shortened from Mahomed ("Muhammad") (see Muhammad for more). Compare mammet.

Full definition of Mahound

Noun

1. (archaic, now rare) Muhammad, believed by medieval Europeans to be a demon or god that Muslims worshipped. from 13th c.
• 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.8:But, when he to himselfe returnd againe,
  All full of rage he gan to curse and sweare,
  And vow by Mahoune that he should be slaine.
• 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:“Now, in faith,” said Wamba, “I cannot see that the worshippers of Mahound and Termagaunt have so greatly the advantage over the people once chosen of Heaven.”
2. (obsolete) A generic pagan god or idol believed by medieval Europeans to be worshipped by various villains such as Herod I. 13th-16th c.
3. (now rare, chiefly in Scottish and Irish) The Devil. from 14th c.
• 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:And there were vessels that are wrought by magic of Mahound out of seasand and the air by a warlock with his breath that he blares into them like to bubbles.