hamster

See also: Hamster, hámster, hàmster, and hâmster

English

a dwarf hamster

Alternative forms

hampster (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hamster, from Middle High German hamster, from Old High German hamastra, hamustro (compare Old Saxon hamustra), probably from Old East Slavic хомѣсторъ (xoměstorŭ), хомѣстаръ (xoměstarŭ), compound of (1) хомѣкъ (xoměkŭ, “hamster”) (compare Russian хомя́к (xomják), Polish chomik), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kāmjas (compare Latvian kāmis (“hamster”), Lithuanian kãmas (“rat”),[1] and of (2) Proto-Balto-Slavic *staras (compare Lithuanian stãras (“ground squirrel”).[2][3]

Alternatively, a borrowing into Slavic from Iranian, compare Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬨𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭-‎ (hamaēstar-, “who throws down (in this case: corn stalks), oppresses”).[4] Displaced earlier term German rat.

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /ˈhæm(p)stɚ/
Audio (UK) (file)

Noun

hamster (plural hamsters)

Any of various Old-World rodent species belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae.
1. especially, the golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, and the dwarf hamsters of genus Phodopus, often kept as a pet or used in scientific research.
  The hamster stuffed his puffy cheeks with food.
Other rodents of similar appearance, such as the maned hamster or crested hamster, Lophiomys imhausi, mouse-like hamsters of genus Calomyscus, and the white-tailed rat (Mystromys albicaudatus).

Synonyms

(golden hamster): Syrian hamster

Derived terms

hamstering
hamstery
idea hamster
rationalization hamster

Descendants

→ Japanese: ハムスター (hamusutā)
→ Korean: 햄스터 (haemseuteo)
→ Tagalog: hamster
→ Thai: แฮมสเตอร์ (hɛms-dtə̂ə)
→ Turkish: hamster

Translations

small, short-tailed European rodent

Afrikaans: hamster
Albanian: lloj brejtësi
Arabic: قَدَاد‎ m (qadād), هَامِسْتَر‎ m (hāmistar)
Egyptian Arabic: هَامِسْتَر‎ m (hamestar)
Armenian: համստեր (hy) (hamster)
Azerbaijani: dağsiçanı
Bashkir: алйырҙан (alyırðan), ирлән (irlän)
Basque: hamster (eu)
Belarusian: хамя́к m (xamják)
Breton: hamster
Bulgarian: хомя́к (bg) m (homják), ха́мстер m (hámster)
Burmese: ဟမ်းစတား (ham:ca.ta:)
Catalan: hàmster (ca) m
Chechen: оьпа (öpa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 倉鼠／仓鼠 (zh) (cāngshǔ)
Czech: křeček (cs) m
Dalmatian: viala f
Danish: hamster (da) c
Dutch: hamster (nl) m
Eastern Mari: ӓрлӓн (ärlän)
Esperanto: hamstro
Estonian: hamster (et)
Faroese: hamstur m, hamstrari m
Finnish: hamsteri (fi)
French: hamster (fr) m, rat de blé m
Friulian: cricęt
Galician: hámster (gl)
Georgian: ზაზუნა (ka) (zazuna)
German: Hamster (de) m
Greek: χάμστερ (el) n (chámster)
Hebrew: אוֹגֵר‎ (he) m (ogér)
Hindi: हैम्स्टर m (haimsṭar)
Hungarian: hörcsög (hu)
Icelandic: hamstur (is) m
Ido: hamstro (io)
Interlingua: hamster
Irish: hamstar
Italian: criceto (it) m
Japanese: ハムスター (ja) (hamusutā), 絹毛鼠 (きぬげねずみ, kinugenezumi), キヌゲネズミ (kinugenezumi)
Karakalpak: balpaq tıshqan
Kazakh: атжалман (atjalman)
Korean: 햄스터 (ko) (haemseuteo)
Kumyk: авлакъ чычкъан (awlaq çıçqan)
Kyrgyz: хомяк (homyak)
Latvian: kāmis m
Lithuanian: žiurkėnas m
Macedonian: хрчак m (hrčak)
Malay: tikus belanda
Maltese: ħamster
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hamster (no) m
Nynorsk: hamster m
Occitan: amstèr
Old East Slavic: хомѣкъ (xoměkŭ)
Persian: همستر‎ (hamistar), موش بزرگ‎ (muš-e bozorg)
Polish: chomik (pl) m
Old Polish: krzeczek m, skrzeczek m
Portuguese: hamster (pt) m
Romanian: hamster (ro), hârciog (ro)
Romansch: furmanter, raffun, raspun
Russian: хомя́к (ru) m (xomják)
Scottish Gaelic: hamstair m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: хр́чак m
Roman: hŕčak (sh) m
Slovak: škrečok (sk) m
Slovene: hrček (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: zemcygaŕ m
Upper Sorbian: žurk m
Spanish: hámster (es) m
Swedish: hamster (sv)
Tagalog: hamster
Tajik: миримӯшон (mirimüšon)
Tatar: әрлән (tt) (ärlän)
Thai: แฮมสเตอร์ (hɛms-dtə̂ə)
Turkish: hamster (tr)
Ukrainian: хом'я́к m (xomʺják)
Uzbek: ogʻmaxon (uz)
Volapük: kriset (vo)
Welsh: bochdew
West Frisian: hamster

Verb

hamster (third-person singular simple present hamsters, present participle hamstering, simple past and past participle hamstered)

(transitive, intransitive) To secrete or store privately, as a hamster does with food in its cheek pouches.
Synonym: stash
- 1974, Phyllis Knight, Rolf Knight, A Very Ordinary Life (page 43)
  Probably the city government knew that without that hamstering half the city would starve and they somehow got the police to lay off. It was in the little stinky one-horse towns that you had all the trouble.
- 2004, Sharon L. Pywell, What Happened to Henry, page 50:
  […] in his bedroom in neat stacks — he always hamstered them away upstairs as soon as the morning was done. This year the gifts sat ignored […]
- 2014, Edith Sheffer, Burned Bridge: How East and West Germans Made the Iron Curtain:
  […] eastern children frequently “hamstered,” smuggled, and begged across the boundary, especially after currency reform […]

References

Fraenkel, Ernst (1955, 1962–1965) Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume I, Heidelberg-Göttingen: Carl Winter and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, page 212
Wolfgang Pfeifer, ed., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, s.v. “Hamster” (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbucher Vertrag, 2005).
C.T. Onions, ed., Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, s.v. “hamster” (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996), 425.
Wolfgang Pfeifer, editor (1993), “Hamster”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen (in German), 2nd edition, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN

Anagrams

Amherst, harmest

Danish

Etymology

From German Hamster.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈhɑmˀsd̥ɐ]

Noun

hamster c (singular definite hamsteren, plural indefinite hamstere)

a hamster

Declension

Declension of hamster

common gender	Singular		Plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	hamster	hamsteren	hamstere	hamsterne
genitive	hamsters	hamsterens	hamsteres	hamsternes

References

“hamster” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɦɑmstər/
audio (file)
Hyphenation: ham‧ster

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Hamster.

Noun

hamster m (plural hamsters, diminutive hamstertje n)

hamster

Derived terms

dwerghamster
goudhamster
hamsterbal
hamsteren
hamstermolen

Descendants

→ Papiamentu: hamster

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

hamster

first-person singular present indicative of hamsteren
imperative of hamsteren

French

Etymology

From German Hamster and ultimately of Balto-Slavic origin.

Pronunciation

^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /am.stɛʁ/
- audio (France) (file)
(Quebec) IPA^(key): /am.stɚ/
- audio (Quebec) (file)

Noun

hamster m (plural hamsters)

hamster

German

Verb

hamster

singular imperative of hamstern

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German Hamster.

Noun

hamster m (definite singular hamsteren, indefinite plural hamstere or hamstre or hamstrer, definite plural hamsterne or hamstrene)

a hamster

References

“hamster” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From German Hamster.

Noun

hamster m (definite singular hamsteren, indefinite plural hamsterar, definite plural hamsterane)

a hamster

References

“hamster” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

hámster (uncommon)
hâmster (rare)

Etymology

From German Hamster and ultimately of Balto-Slavic origin.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɐ̃.mis.teʁ/ [ˈhɐ̃.mis.teh], /ˈʁɐms.teʁ/ [ˈhɐms.teh]
- (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɐ̃.mis.teɾ/ [ˈhɐ̃.mis.teɾ], /ˈʁɐms.teɾ/ [ˈhɐms.teɾ]
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɐ̃.miʃ.teʁ/ [ˈχɐ̃.miʃ.teχ], /ˈʁɐmʃ.teʁ/ [ˈχɐmʃ.teχ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɐms.teɻ/ [ˈhɐms.teɻ], /ˈʁɐ.mis.teɻ/ [ˈhɐ.mis.teɻ]

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɐmʃ.tɛɾ/

Noun

hamster m (plural hamsters or (rare) hamsteres)

hamster (small, short-tailed European rodent)

Romanian

Etymology

From German Hamster.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈham.ster/

Noun

hamster m (plural hamsteri)

hamster

Declension

Declension of hamster

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) hamster	hamsterul	(niște) hamsteri	hamsterii
genitive/dative	(unui) hamster	hamsterului	(unor) hamsteri	hamsterilor
vocative	hamsterule		hamsterilor

Swedish

Etymology

From German Hamster and ultimately of Balto-Slavic origin.

Noun

hamster c

a hamster

Declension

Declension of hamster
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	hamster	hamstern	hamstrar	hamstrarna
Genitive	hamsters	hamsterns	hamstrars	hamstrarnas

Related terms

guldhamster
hamsterbur
hamsterhjul
hamstra
hamstrare
hamstring

References

hamster in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English hamster.

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: ham‧ster

IPA^(key): /ˈhamsteɾ/, [ˈhans.teɾ]

Noun

hamster

hamster
- 1996, Emmanuel A. Reyes, Malikhaing pelikula: mga sanaysay tungkol sa pelikulang Pilipino:
  Ilalagay ni PAUL ang retrato ni Ferdinand at Imelda Marcos sa likod ng kulungan ng mga hamster.
- 2020, TINA LATA, The Good Girl's Revenge:
  Kung may nasabi man akong hindi maganda, bakit hindi niya sabihin sa 'kin? Hindi naman ako manghuhula para malaman kung anong problema niya. Tiningnan ko 'yong hamster na gusto kong bilhin pero naisip ko si Tammy.

Turkish

Etymology

From English hamster.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈhɑm.s(ɯ)tæɾ]
Hyphenation: hams‧ter

Noun

hamster (definite accusative hamsteri, plural hamsterler)

hamster

Declension

Inflection

Nominative

hamster

Definite accusative

hamsteri

Singular

Plural

Nominative

hamster

hamsterler

Definite accusative

hamsteri

hamsterleri

Dative

hamstere

hamsterlere

Locative

hamsterde

hamsterlerde

Ablative

hamsterden

hamsterlerden

Genitive

hamsterin

hamsterlerin

Possessive forms
Nominative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	hamsterim	hamsterlerim
2nd singular	hamsterin	hamsterlerin
3rd singular	hamsteri	hamsterleri
1st plural	hamsterimiz	hamsterlerimiz
2nd plural	hamsteriniz	hamsterleriniz
3rd plural	hamsterleri	hamsterleri
Definite accusative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	hamsterimi	hamsterlerimi
2nd singular	hamsterini	hamsterlerini
3rd singular	hamsterini	hamsterlerini
1st plural	hamsterimizi	hamsterlerimizi
2nd plural	hamsterinizi	hamsterlerinizi
3rd plural	hamsterlerini	hamsterlerini
Dative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	hamsterime	hamsterlerime
2nd singular	hamsterine	hamsterlerine
3rd singular	hamsterine	hamsterlerine
1st plural	hamsterimize	hamsterlerimize
2nd plural	hamsterinize	hamsterlerinize
3rd plural	hamsterlerine	hamsterlerine
Locative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	hamsterimde	hamsterlerimde
2nd singular	hamsterinde	hamsterlerinde
3rd singular	hamsterinde	hamsterlerinde
1st plural	hamsterimizde	hamsterlerimizde
2nd plural	hamsterinizde	hamsterlerinizde
3rd plural	hamsterlerinde	hamsterlerinde
Ablative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	hamsterimden	hamsterlerimden
2nd singular	hamsterinden	hamsterlerinden
3rd singular	hamsterinden	hamsterlerinden
1st plural	hamsterimizden	hamsterlerimizden
2nd plural	hamsterinizden	hamsterlerinizden
3rd plural	hamsterlerinden	hamsterlerinden
Genitive
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	hamsterimin	hamsterlerimin
2nd singular	hamsterinin	hamsterlerinin
3rd singular	hamsterinin	hamsterlerinin
1st plural	hamsterimizin	hamsterlerimizin
2nd plural	hamsterinizin	hamsterlerinizin
3rd plural	hamsterlerinin	hamsterlerinin

[1] Fraenkel, Ernst (1955, 1962–1965) Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume I, Heidelberg-Göttingen: Carl Winter and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, page 212

[2] Wolfgang Pfeifer, ed., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, s.v. “Hamster” (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbucher Vertrag, 2005).

[3] C.T. Onions, ed., Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, s.v. “hamster” (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996), 425.

[4] Wolfgang Pfeifer, editor (1993), “Hamster”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen (in German), 2nd edition, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN

hamster

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

See also

References

Further reading

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Verb

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Further reading

German

Verb

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Noun

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Noun

References

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Romanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Related terms

References

Tagalog

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Turkish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension