Talpa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of small, burrowing mammals often characterized by their velvety fur and spade-like hands for digging
2. Referring to creatures commonly found in Europe and Asia, known for their underground lifestyle and distinctive elongated bodies
3. A name used to describe the common mole, known for its tunneling abilities and a diet primarily consisting of insects and earthworms

Etymology: Latin "talpa" meant "mole," the burrowing animal, and it is the same creature that English later took through two separate routes. The word reached English from Latin through Middle English, and it survives there as a doublet of "taupe," which arrived by a different path, through French, so that one Latin word ended up as two English words with different spellings and different feels. "Talpa" itself stayed a learned, scientific-sounding term, while "taupe" became the everyday name for the colour of a mole's fur.

Synonyms: mole