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marmot

mar·mot

UK/ˈmɑː.mət/ US/ˈmɑɹ.mət/ uncommon

noun

1.

stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter

Origin

From Middle French marmotte, from Old French marmotte; further etymology uncertain, possibly from a Gallo-Romance base *marm- (“to mumble; to murmur”) (referring to the sound made by the marmot when eating; possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *mur- (whence murmur) and ultimately imitative; compare also French marmot and marmonner) + Middle French -otte (diminutive suffix). Akin to French marmotte, Italian marmotta, Engadin Romansh murmont, Old High German *murmento (dialectal German Murmentel, standard Murmeltier); see also Latin mūs montānus (literally “mountain rat”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.