Squirrels

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small to medium-sized rodents known for their bushy tails and strong hind legs, often seen climbing trees or foraging for nuts
2. Species that adapt well to various habitats, recognized for their playful behavior and vocalizations
3. Rodent species characterized by bushy tails and agile movements, commonly inhabiting wooded areas and recognized for storing food in preparation for winter

Etymology: "Squirrels" is the plural of "squirrel," and the singular's history reaches back to the ancient Greek for "shadow-tail." The Greek "skiouros" was built from "skia," shadow, and "oura," tail, a fitting name for an animal whose bushy tail seems to cast its own shade. Latin borrowed it as "sciurus," and the word then spread through Vulgar Latin into Old French as "escurel," the ancestor of modern French "écureuil." English got the word through Anglo-Norman "esquirel" and reached Middle English as "squirel" and "squyrelle." It was not the first English name for the animal. Old English "ācweorna" was the native term, and it survived in dialect forms such as "acquerne" and "aquerne" before the borrowed word displaced it.

Synonyms: rodents