Meerkat

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmɪəkat/

Definitions

1. A social mammal native to southern Africa, this species is recognized for its upright stance and living in cooperative groups while exhibiting behaviors such as vigilant foraging and burrowing habits
2. Known for its unique behavior of standing on hind legs, this animal from southern Africa thrives in social colonies, displaying strong cooperative traits along with complex social interactions while foraging
3. A small mammal resembling a mongoose that lives in groups and is native to southern Africa

Etymology: The meerkat is named for a creature that lives in the sea, which is the opposite of its dry, desert home. The Dutch word "meerkat" was a name for a long-tailed monkey, and it was built from "meer", meaning sea, and "kat", meaning cat. The sea element may have come from a mistaken or unclear sense of the animal's origin, and the "cat" part simply reflects the Dutch word for cat. When Dutch settlers reached southern Africa, they applied the name to the small, upright mongoose-like animal they found there. Afrikaans, the language that grew out of their Dutch, carried the word forward, and English speakers borrowed it from Afrikaans. The word was transferred from one animal to another, so the monkey that gave it its name has nothing to do with the creature we know today. Some have suggested an Indian source, linked to Sanskrit "markata" meaning ape or monkey, but the word appears in Old High German as "merikazza" well before any plausible Indo-Aryan influence, so that idea is unlikely.

Synonyms: suricate