opossum
pronunciation
How to pronounce opossum in British English:
UK [əˈpɒsəm]
How to pronounce opossum in American English:
US [əˈpɑsəm]
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- Noun:
- small furry Australian arboreal marsupials having long usually prehensile tails
- nocturnal arboreal marsupial having a naked prehensile tail found from southern North America to northern South America
Word Origin
- opossum
- opossum: [17] Opossum comes from aposoum, a word in Virginia Algonquian meaning literally ‘white animal’. The shortened form possum is virtually contemporary with it. When referring to the animal, opossum is now the more usual term, but possum holds its own in the expression play possum ‘feign death or sleep’. Dating from the early 19th century, it alludes to the opossum’s habit of pretending to be dead when threatened.
- opossum (n.)
- 1610, from Powhatan (Algonquian) opassum, "equivalent to a proto-Algonquian term meaning 'white dog'" [Bright].
Example
- 1. The opossum is a large rat-like creature .
- 2. The opossum became the first marsupial to be known in europe .
- 3. Another new species discovered by ceballos and his team is a common shrew opossum , also known as a marsupial shrew , and a member of the caenolestidae family .
- 4. A cross-eyed opossum called heidi , who is being housed in leipzig zoo of germany , has already become a new net star , and attracted more than 65000 fans on facebook .
- 5. No , sir , no one that I know ( including me , of course ) could ever get away with such an ambitious opossum routine when his primary medium is the web - and , really , who 'd want to ?