squirrel
Definitions
General English
Agriculture
- noun a medium-sized rodent living in trees
Food
- A bushy tailed tree climbing rodent of the family Sciuridae, eaten in many parts of the world. Well known in Cajun cookery, probably the grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis.
Origin & History of “squirrel”
The squirrel’s name means etymologically ‘little shadow-tail’. It comes via Anglo-Norman esquirel from vulgar Latin *scūriōlus, a diminutive form of *scūrius. this was an alteration of Latin sciūrus ‘squirrel’ (now the scientific name for the squirrel genus), which in turn came from Greek skíouros, a compound formed from skiā́ ‘shadow’ and ourā́ ‘tail’.
