What does the term mob mean? 'Mob' when used as a noun means a large, disorganised and often violent crowd of people

Farmers gather at Singhu border during their sit-in protest against the Centre's farm reform laws, in New Delhi on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020.: PTI

Upala Sen   |  TT   |    20.12.20  :  What is so odd about looking up words? Yes, they are common words, but sometimes common can befuddle, no? I am looking up words. The British English word mob, for instance, is derived from the Latin phrase mobile vulgus, meaning fickle common people. The adjective mobile has been derived from the Latin mobilis, which means movable, easy to move, not firm. 'Mob' when used as a noun means a large, disorganised and often violent crowd of people. This sense of the term has been in use from the 17th century. According to Collins dictionary, people sometimes use the word to refer in a disapproving way to the majority of people in a country or place, especially when these people are behaving in a violent or uncontrolled way. 

Chicago Mob

Some of the Thesaurus options for synonyms of mob are --- clan, crowd, flock, gang, horde, mass, riot, swarm, throng and troop. Others are assemblage, body, cabal, camp, coterie, crew, drove, gathering, rabble, riffraff… Mob is also one of the many terms for the Italian-American organised crime families operating in the United States since the early 1920s. The Chicago Mob is one such crime syndicate based, but obviously, in Chicago. The mob is also referred to as the mafia, the outfit and the office. In New Zealand, 'mob' placed at the end of the words 'mighty mongrel' becomes the name of a notorious street gang. In Australia, mob is used to refer to indigenous people and oftentimes used to connote family or community. It is also used to refer to a group of animals. For instance, a mob of kangaroos, a mob of sheep, a mob of cattle. This usage, as many point out, is free of judgement. 

farmer (n)

Mob, in the context of video games, is short for mobile object blocks or the generic term for any non-player entity whose primary purpose is to be killed for experience or game objective. Non-player entity... hmm... sounds like pawns to me. But not all common words are so versatile. Take, for instance, the word farmer. It means a person who owns or manages a farm. Etymology, did you say? Sorry, I cannot dwell so on every common word. There is a long list --- citizen, government, democracy, justice... Sometimes you think you know a word.