Coypu

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large, webbed-footed semi-aquatic rodent from South America, valued historically for its fur and often called a nutria
2. A big plant-eating water rodent native to South America with orange teeth and a long rounded tail
3. South American river rodent resembling a giant beaver, kept for its pelt and known scientifically as Myocastor coypus

Etymology: The coypu is a South American rodent that was carried to Europe and beyond, and its name is a loan that passed through Spanish from the language of the Mapuche people of southern Chile and Argentina. The Spanish form "coipú" was adopted from Mapudungun "koypu", the Mapuche word for this animal, and English took the name from Spanish. The word therefore records a small chain of borrowings: an indigenous name, carried into Spanish colonial usage, and then into English as naturalists and fur traders began describing the animal in Europe. Its meaning stayed fixed on the rodent itself, so the word is a straightforward example of an animal name travelling with the creature rather than changing shape along the way.

Synonyms: nutria