Mutiny

How to spell mutiny

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce mutiny

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mutiny mean?

1. nounAn open rebellion against lawful authority, especially by soldiers or sailors refusing to obey their officers.
2. verbTo openly rebel against and refuse to obey those in authority.

Mutiny in a sentence

• noun

  The harsh rations and unpaid wages finally sparked a mutiny among the crew.

• verb

  The soldiers threatened to mutiny unless their commander resigned.

• noun

  The captain feared a mutiny if he ordered the exhausted sailors back on deck.

• verb

  A starving crew will eventually mutiny against a cruel captain.

Where does mutiny come from?

Language of origin: French

Mutiny traces back through French to the Latin verb movere, meaning 'to move' or 'to set in motion'. From a Vulgar Latin form came the Old French meute, a 'movement' that came to mean a riot or uprising, and from this developed the adjective mutin, meaning 'rebellious' or 'unruly'. English borrowed mutine in the sixteenth century as both a verb and a noun for rebellion, and the familiar form mutiny was built by adding the noun-forming suffix -y. The sense narrowed over time to its modern meaning: an open revolt by soldiers or, most famously, sailors against the officers commanding them. The same movere root underlies a whole family of everyday English words, including 'motion', 'move' and 'commotion', so the idea of people stirring into rebellious motion sits at the heart of the spelling.

How the word is built

• mutin- (from French mutin: rebellious)
• -y (noun-forming suffix)