Unknown, attested since the 1920s. Suggested origins, none of which are accepted by mainstream lexicographers,^[1] include:

• from Romani mol (“have value, be worth”)^[2]
• from Irish moll óir (“heap of gold”)^[3] However, this is unlikely because of the difference in pronunciation.
• from French moulin (“mill”)
• from Chinook Jargon moola (“mill”)^[4]
• from Sanskrit मूल्य (mūlya, “capital, principal”)
• coined by Chuck Green, a friend of Damon Runyon^[5]

• moolah

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːˌlɑː/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmuː.lə/
• (MLE) IPA^(key): /ˈmyː.lɑ/, /ˈmuː.lɑ/, /ˈmʊ.lɑ/
• Rhymes: -uːlə

• Audio (US):

  (file)

moola (uncountable)

1. (informal) Money, cash.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:money

   • 2022 July 12, Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms, “Reunited” (16:24 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows‎^[2], season 4, episode 1, spoken by Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou):

     “Well, to fix this house, we need money, correct? Does anyone know if we have any money? Anyone?” “Uh...” “Cash.” “Coin.” “Moola.” “Gold.” “Wonga.” “Rubles.” “Milk.” “Lettuce.” “Bread.” “Dough.” “Sweet cream.” “Stripper tips.” “Anyone?” “Colin Robinson was in charge of paying all the bills in the house, and now Colin Robinson is dead.”

moola (plural moolas)

1. Obsolete form of mullah.

Borrowed from Spanish mula

moola (plural moomolat)

1. a mule

• Hopi Dictionary Project, The (1998), Hopi Dictionary: Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni: A Hopi Dictionary of the Third Mesa Dialect with an English-Hopi Finder List and a Sketch of Hopi Grammar, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, page 248

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːla/
• Hyphenation: moo‧la

moola (plural moolano)

1. dry

moola

1. (intransitive) to be dry
2. (intransitive) to dry up

• Kazuhiro Kawachi (2007), A grammar of Sidaama (Sidamo), a Cushitic language of Ethiopia, page 144