opossum

opossum

See also: Opossum

English

An opossum.

Etymology

From Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”), from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa (“white dog”); compare Ojibwe waabasim (“white dog”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈpɒsəm/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ə-päsʹəm, IPA^(key): /əˈpɑsəm/[1][2][3] or in abbreviated form like possum, as /ˈpɑsəm/[1][2]
• Hyphenation: o‧pos‧sum

Noun

opossum (plural opossums)

1. Any American marsupial of the family Didelphidae. The common species of the United States is Didelphis virginiana.

Synonyms

• possum (US)

Derived terms

• water opossum (Chironectes minimus), yapock
• opossum mouse (Cercartetus nanus)
• opossum rat (Rattus marmosurus)
• opossum shrimp (order Mysida)
• shrew opossum (family Caenolestidae)

Descendants

• → Catalan: opòssum
• → Finnish: opossumi
• → Irish: apasam

Translations

marsupial of the Didelphidae

Arabic: أُوبُسُوم‎ m (ʾubusum) Basque: zarigueia Bulgarian: опо́сум (opósum) Catalan: sariga f, opòssum m Cherokee: ᏏᏆ ᎤᏤᏣᏍᏗ (siqua utsetsasdi) Chinese: Mandarin: 負鼠／负鼠 (zh) (fùshǔ) Czech: vačice (cs) f Danish: opossum c, pungrotte c Dutch: opossum (nl) m, Amerikaanse buidelrat f Erzya: ашопине (ašopine) Esperanto: didelfo Finnish: opossumi (fi) Fox: êyênîha French: sarigue (fr) f, opossum (fr) m, rat de bois m (Louisiana) Georgian: ოპოსუმისებრნი (oṗosumisebrni) German: Beutelratte f Greek: οπόσουμ (el) n (opósoum) Hebrew: אופוסום‎ (opossum) Hungarian: oposszum Icelandic: pokarotta f Ido: didelfo (io) Irish: apasam m Italian: opossum (it) m, sariga (it) f Japanese: オポッサム (opossamu), 袋鼠 (fukuronezumi) Korean: 주머니쥐 (jumeonijwi) Lithuanian: oposumai Miami: aayeeliiwa, eeyeelia Nanticoke: nah!simmini Navajo: biyázhí neiyéhé Norwegian: pungrotte f Nyunga: goomal Ojibwe: ayaanii Osage: sį́štaa Persian: صاریغ‎ (fa) (sâriğ) Polish: opos (pl) m, dydelf m Portuguese: gambá (pt) m, cuíca (pt) f, opossum m, sariguê Quechua: q'ara chupa Romanian: oposum (ro) m, (rare) sarigă f Russian: опо́ссум (ru) m (opóssum) Spanish: (especially formal or scientific usage) zarigüeya (es) f, (Bolivia) carachupa (es) f, (Colombia) chucha (es) f, (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) comadreja (es) f, (Venezuelan Andes) faro (es) m, (Peru) muca (es) f, (Venezuelan standard usage) rabipelado m, (Ecuador) raposa f, (Honduras) tacuacín m, (El Salvador, Guatemala) tacuazín m, (Mexico) tlacuache (es) m, (Panama) zorra (es) f, (Nicaragua) zorro cola pelada m, (Costa Rica) zorro pelón m Swahili: kifaurongo Swedish: pungråtta (sv) c Tagalog: sarigweya Thai: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: опо́сум m (opósum) Unami: òpinkw Vietnamese: ô-pốt-sâm, thú ô-pốt Welsh: oposwm m

References

1. “opossum”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
2. “opossum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
3. “opossum”, in Collins English Dictionary.

Further reading

• opossum in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Didelphidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Didelphidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

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Corsican

Un opossum.

Etymology

Borrowed from English opossum, from Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈposːum/

Noun

opossum m (plural opossi)

1. opossum

References

• “opossum” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English opossum, from Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”), from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa (“white dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌoːˈpɔ.sʏm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: opos‧sum

Noun

opossum m (plural opossums, diminutive opossumpje n)

1. opossum, marsupial of the family Didelphidae

   Synonym: buidelrat

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.pɔ.sɔm/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

opossum m (plural opossums)

1. opossum

   Synonyms: sarigue; (Louisiana) rat de bois

Further reading

• “opossum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.