MUTUAL
reciprocal, mutual
(adjective) concerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return; “reciprocal aid”; “reciprocal trade”; “mutual respect”; “reciprocal privileges at other clubs”
common, mutual
(adjective) common to or shared by two or more parties; “a common friend”; “the mutual interests of management and labor”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
mutual (comparative more mutual, superlative most mutual)
Having the same relationship, each to each other.
Collective, done or held in common.
Reciprocal.
Possessed in common.
(Relating to a company, insurance or financial institution) Owned by the members.
Synonyms
• (done or held in common): mutual, shared; see also joint
• (reciprocal): reciprocative; see also reciprocal
Noun
mutual (plural mutuals)
A mutual fund.
(business, finance, insurance) A mutual organization.
(internet) Either of a pair of people who follow each other's social media accounts.
Anagrams
• umlaut
Source: Wiktionary
Mu"tu*al, a. Etym: [F. mutuel, L. mutuus, orig., exchanged, borrowed,
lent; akin to mutare to change. See Mutable.]
1. Reciprocally acting or related; reciprocally receiving and giving;
reciprocally given and received; reciprocal; interchanged; as, a
mutual love, advantage, assistance, aversion, etc.
Conspiracy and mutual promise. Sir T. More.
Happy in our mutual help, And mutual love. Milton.
A certain shyness on such subjects, which was mutual between the
sisters. G. Eliot.
2. Possessed, experienced, or done by two or more persons or things
at the same time; common; joint; as, mutual happiness; a mutual
effort. Burke.
A vast accession of misery and woe from the mutual weeping, and
wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Bentley.
Note: This use of mutual as synonymous with common is inconsistent
with the idea of interchange, or reciprocal relation, which properly
belongs to it; but the word has been so used by many writers of high
authority. The present tendency is toward a careful discrimination.
Mutual, as Johnson will tell us, means something reciprocal, a giving
and taking. How could people have mutual ancestors P. Harrison.
Mutual insurance, agreement among a number of persons to insure each
other against loss, as by fire, death, or accident.
– Mutual insurance company, one which does a business of insurance
on the mutual principle, the policy holders sharing losses and
profits pro rata.
Syn.
– Reciprocal; interchanged; common.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition