mutton

noun

mut·​ton ˈmə-tᵊn 

: the flesh of a mature sheep used for food

muttony

ˈmə-tᵊn-ē 

ˈmət-nē

adjective

Examples of mutton in a Sentence

a meal of mutton and potatoes

Recent Examples on the Web

After Cash’s Rick Rubin album, the audience—in New York, at least—was magically transformed into leather jacketed hipster boys working on starter mutton chops and Sarah Lawrence girls wearing gingham skirts and Frye boots, all of them claiming to have grown up on the stuff. —Corey Seymour, Vogue, 12 June 2025

In these large, slow-moving creatures, age may also have played a factor in the taste of their meat, in the same way that veal tastes different from other beef, or the way that lamb tastes different from mutton. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2025

Every Christmas my Grandma makes the most incredible Goan-spiced roast mutton. —Alexandra York, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025

Denver Broncos Kids with helmets of the Broncos’ opponents go mutton busting (sheep riding) with Mark Johnson, the voice of the Colorado Buffaloes, narrating. —Jayna Bardahl, New York Times, 16 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English motoun, mutton, sheep, from Anglo-French mutun ram, sheep, mutton, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish molt wether

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing mutton

• leg-of-mutton
• leg-o'-mutton
• mutton dressed as lamb

Rhymes for mutton

• button
• clutton
• glutton
• witan
• unbutton

Video

Words of the Year: 1066

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

Kids Definition

mutton

noun

mut·​ton ˈmət-ᵊn 

: the flesh of a mature sheep used for food

Etymology

from French mouton "sheep"