A mouse eats a grain. A mouse moves a pointer. We move easily between these sentences, although they describe very different things. How can a familiar word make room for something new without giving up its earlier meaning? Following the German word Maus offers a way to explore that change — and to ask what a historical example actually proves.
One word, two situations
Our opening sentences are invented examples, not historical quotations. In the first, “eats” points towards an animal; in the second, “pointer” suggests a computer. The German dictionary DWDS records both meanings under Maus. It also lists other uses, including a term of endearment. Our example is therefore part of a larger field of meanings. The important starting point is that the technical meaning has not replaced the animal meaning. The word has taken on an additional role. [1]
The earlier trace reaches far back
Wolfgang Pfeifer’s etymology, available through DWDS, dates the Old High German form mūs to the eighth century. This dates a historical language form. It does not mean that people only began naming the animal then. Even here, we need to distinguish the age of an available trace from the beginning of a linguistic practice. A timeline can only arrange what its sources support. The earliest trace shown here is not the word’s birth certificate. [1]
A new device finds a familiar image
The device has a different chronology. SRI dates Bill English’s first prototype, built as part of Douglas Engelbart’s research work, to 1964. On 9 December 1968, Engelbart demonstrated an interactive computer system with a mouse in San Francisco. SRI also relays a retrospective explanation attributed to Engelbart: the device and its cable resembled a mouse with a tail. This helps explain the image behind the English name. It establishes neither a precise naming date nor the first German use of the term. [3] [4]
One word, several timelines.
Word history and device history meet here. They do not begin on the same day. The spacing on this timeline is not to scale.
- 8th centuryWord history
The earlier trace
Pfeifer’s etymology in DWDS dates the Old High German form mūs to this period. This does not date the beginning of its spoken use. [1]
- 1964Device history
A prototype takes shape
Bill English builds the first computer mouse prototype at SRI as part of Douglas Engelbart’s research work. [3]
- 9 December 1968Device history
The device is demonstrated
Engelbart demonstrates an interactive computer system with a mouse in San Francisco. This event does not date the first German use of the term. [3]
- 19 October 1990German text example
Maus on the desk
The entry Maus includes a Die Zeit example using the word for an input device. A documented instance of use, not a claimed first occurrence. [1]
- 25 December 1992German text example
The longer form is documented too
Under Computermaus, DWDS records another Die Zeit example. It documents the compound name for the device. [2]
- 2020 / 2024
An example shows that a word was used in that text. It does not show that this was its first use. Dictionary years refer to the editorial dates displayed by the dictionary.
An example is not a beginning
The entry Maus includes a Die Zeit example dated 19 October 1990 referring to the input device. Computermaus includes another dated 25 December 1992. These show that the respective terms were used in those texts. They do not show that either term was invented there or only entered German at that time. We consulted these newspaper extracts through the dictionary, rather than checking the original newspaper editions separately. Establishing a reliable first occurrence would require a wider historical investigation. [1] [2]
What changes, and what remains
A transferred meaning makes a familiar image useful for something else. Here, resemblance to the animal connects the two ideas. The linguistic term for one word with related meanings is polysemy. Computermaus makes the technical context explicit; Maus can serve as the shorter form when the conversation supplies that context. DWDS identifies Computer and Maus as the compound’s components and links the device entries. The result is documented. These entries do not determine exactly when or how the transfer into German took place. [1] [2]
Context does some of the work
“Die Maus liegt neben der Tastatur” — the mouse is beside the keyboard — will usually suggest something different from “Die Maus sitzt unter dem Schrank”, the mouse is under the cupboard. These are our own examples too. They show how surrounding words encourage a particular reading. They cannot rule out the alternative: an animal could also sit beside a keyboard. Understanding therefore involves more than substituting a dictionary definition. Situation, conversation and prior knowledge help us select a meaning. The ease with which we often do this can make change hard to notice.
What we still do not know
The dictionary entries document meanings and selected instances of use. They do not measure how frequently speakers mean an animal or a device in conversation. A frequency curve for the string Maus would not, without further analysis, separate those meanings either. That would require choosing texts by period and genre and examining each use in context. Our next question is therefore: when did the technical meaning become familiar enough in everyday German texts to appear without explanation? The two newspaper extracts alone cannot answer it.
A small observation for everyday life
The next time you encounter Maus, or mouse in an English conversation, notice what helps you interpret it. Which nearby words or objects reveal what is meant? Does anyone need to add “computer”? A note like this is not a representative language study. It can nevertheless reveal a familiar achievement: we use an old word in a changed world and understand it differently without abandoning its earlier meaning. Change does not always leave a gap. Sometimes it creates additional room.
The illustration is an artistic metaphor for language, not a historical workplace. The editorial timeline draws on the sources explained below and is not to scale. Device events, text examples and dictionary dates are explicitly distinguished.
DWDS · Maus: Bedeutungen und Etymologie ↗
Dictionary entry marked 2024, including Pfeifer’s etymology dating the Old High German form to the eighth century and a technical usage example from Die Zeit, 19 October 1990. We use that example as evidence of wording, not as a reliable account of the device’s invention. It does not establish the first German technical use.
DWDS · Computermaus: Wortbildung und Textbelege ↗
Dictionary entry marked 2020; identifies Computer and Maus as the components of Computermaus. Includes an example from Die Zeit dated 25 December 1992. Newspaper examples are documented through the dictionary; the original newspaper editions were not checked separately. Same dictionary provider as source 1.
SRI · The computer mouse and interactive computing ↗
Historical account by the research institution involved: Bill English built the first prototype in 1964; Douglas Engelbart publicly demonstrated the system on 9 December 1968. Evidence for the device’s history, not for the first German use of the word.
SRI · 75 Years of Innovation: The Computer Mouse ↗
Anniversary article relaying a retrospective explanation attributed to Engelbart: resemblance to a mouse with a tail. Not a contemporary naming record or proof of a precise coinage date. Same institution as source 3.
Sources checked on 23 October 2026. Newspaper examples are documented through the dictionary entries. The timeline distinguishes documented dates from unresolved questions about first use.
