Meercat

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small, slender mammal native to southern Africa known for standing upright on hind legs to survey its surroundings ; a member of the mongoose family distinguished by social behavior in large groups called mobs or gangs ; an animal adapted to arid environments with sharp eyesight and agile movements for spotting predators and prey
2. A desert-dwelling carnivorous mammal characterized by its upright stance when vigilant ; a highly social species living in cooperative groups within burrow systems ; a vigilant creature with keen senses used for protection and hunting in open landscapes
3. A small mammal native to dry regions of Africa recognized for its sentinel posture while scanning for danger ; an animal in a cooperative social structure that shares responsibilities among group members ; a species with specialized adaptations to detect threats and capture insects or small animals efficiently

Etymology: The animal's name is a little misleading: "meerkat" was first a monkey, and "sea cat" was the original idea. The word comes from Middle Dutch "meercatte", literally "sea cat", and it was applied to a long-tailed monkey, the guenon, before it ever meant the small mongoose. The Dutch later used it for that monkey, and Afrikaans speakers in South Africa transferred the name to the slender, upright mongoose they saw on the savanna. The "sea" part has never been fully explained. Some have suggested the name came from an Indian source, pointing to Hindi "markaṭ" and Sanskrit "markaṭa", both meaning "ape" or "monkey". That idea fails on dating, because the Old High German form "merikazza" is attested earlier than any plausible Indo-Aryan influence could have reached Europe. The older word therefore seems to have been home-grown in the Low Countries, and its "sea" element remains unexplained.

Synonyms: suricate