mutual
Syllabification: (mu·tu·al)
Pronunciation: /ˈmyo͞oCHo͞oəl/
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Definition of mutual
adjective
Origin:
late 15th century: from Old French mutuel, from Latin mutuus 'mutual, borrowed'; related to mutare 'to change'
Some traditionalists consider using mutual to mean ‘common to two or more people’ (a mutual friend; a mutual interest) to be incorrect, holding that a sense of reciprocity is necessary (mutual respect; mutual need). The use they object to has a long and respectable history, however, being first recorded in Shakespeare and appearing in the writing of Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot, and, most famously, as the title of Dickens’s novel Our Mutual Friend. It is now generally accepted as part of standard English.