Massasaugas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small, venomous pit vipers of central and eastern North America that have a rattle at the tip of the tail
2. Compact rattlesnakes native to the grasslands and wetlands of North America, known for their mild temperament and potent venom
3. Small North American rattlesnakes with dark blotches along the body, found mainly in prairies, marshes and river valleys

Etymology: The massasauga is a small rattlesnake, and its name seems to have started out as a place name. The most likely source is the Mississagi River in Ontario, Canada. French speakers rendered the local Ojibwe name as "Mississague" or "Missisague," and the Ojibwe word "misiza:gi:" meant something like "inhabitant of the great river mouth," referring to the people living at that river. The snake's name is thought to be a doublet of "Mississauga," the name of a First Nations people in the same region, meaning the two words descend from the same source by separate routes. The link between a river and a snake is not clearly documented, so the exact reason the name was transferred to the rattlesnake remains uncertain. The most probable explanation is that the snakes were associated with the region where the river lay, and the name followed them into English. The plural "massasaugas" is simply the regular form of the noun, used when referring to more than one of these snakes.

Synonyms: swamp rattler