guinea pig

English

Wikipedia

Guinea pigs

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɪni pɪɡ/, SAMPA: /"gIni pIg/

Etymology

The origin of "guinea" in "guinea pig" is hard to explain. One theory is that the animals were brought to Europe by way of Guinea, leading people to think they had originated there. "Guinea" was also frequently used in English to refer generally to any far-off, unknown country, and so the name may simply be a colorful reference to the animal's foreignness. Others believe "guinea" may be an alteration of the word coney (“rabbit”); guinea pigs were referred to as "pig coneys" in Edward Topsell's 1607 treatise on quadrupeds.

Noun

guinea pig (plural guinea pigs)

1. A tailless rodent of the Cavia genus, with short ears and larger than a hamster; the species Cavia porcellus is often kept as a pet.
2. (figuratively) A living experimental subject.

   He became a human guinea pig and was paid by the company.

Synonyms

• (rodent) cavy
• (figurative) lab rat

Translations

rodent

Albanian: kavie, gini thi (sq) Armenian: ծովախոզուկ (hy) (çovaxozuk) Basque: akuri Belarusian: марская свінка (be) (marskája svínka) f. Breton: razh-indez Bulgarian: морско свинче (bg) (mórsko svinčé) n. Catalan: cobaia, conillet d'índia Chinese: Mandarin: 豚鼠 (cmn) (túnshǔ) Croatian: zamorac m. Czech: morče n. Danish: marsvin (da) Dutch: guinees biggetje n., cavia m. Esperanto: kobajo Estonian: merisiga (et) Faroese: marsvín (fo) Finnish: marsu (fi) French: cochon d'Inde (fr) m., cobaye (fr) m. Friulian: cavie Galician: cobaia German: Meerschweinchen (de) n. Greek: (ινδικό χοιρίδιο (el) (indikó choirídio) f. Hungarian: tengerimalac (hu) Icelandic: naggrís (is) m. Ido: kobayo Indonesian: marmot (?) Irish: muc ghuine Italian: cavia (it) f. Japanese: モルモット (ja) (morumotto), ギニアピッグ (ja) (giniapiggu), テンジクネズミ (ja) (tenjiku-nezumi) Korean: 기니피그 (ko) (ginipigeu) Ladin: porcel de mar Latvian: jūras cūciņa

Lithuanian: jūrų kiaulytė Lower Sorbian: morska swinka Luxembourgish: Mierschwéngchen (lb) n. Macedonian: морско прасе (mk) (mórsko práse) n., заморец (mk) (zámorec) m. Maltese: fenek ta’ l-indi Navajo: łéʼétsoh beeniʼíhoniitaahígíí Norwegian: marsvin (no) n. Occitan: cobai Polish: świnka morska (pl) Portuguese: cobaia f., porquinho-da-índia m., preá-da-índia m. Romani: balo-koro m., bali-kori f. Romanian: cobai (ro) Romansch: portg da mar Russian: морская свинка (ru) (morskája svínka) f. Sami: mársa Sardinian: càvia Serbian: Cyrillic: заморче n., заморац m., морско прасе n. Roman: zamorče n., zamorac m., morsko prase n. Slovak: morča n., morské prasiatko n. Slovene: budra f., morski prašiček m. Spanish: conejillo de Indias m. (especially figurative usage), cobaya f./m. (especially scientific usage), acure m. (Venezuela), curí m. (Colombia), curiel m. (Cuba), cuy m. (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Southern Colombian Andes) Swedish: marsvin (sv) Turkish: kobay (tr) Ukrainian: морська свинка (uk) (mors'ká svýnka) f. Upper Sorbian: wujk Volapük: (♂♀) kavead (vo), (♂) hikavead (vo), (♀) jikavead (vo), (♂♀ offspring) kaveadül (vo), (♂ offspring) hikaveadül (vo), (♀ offspring) jikaveadül (vo) Welsh: mochyn cwta West Frisian: bargemot

experimental subject

Albanian: gini thi (sq) Chinese: Mandarin: 白老鼠 (cmn) (bái lǎoshǔ) Czech: pokusný králík m. Danish: forsøgskanin (da) c. Dutch: proefkonijn (nl) n. Finnish: koekaniini (fi) French: cobaye (fr) m. German: Versuchskaninchen (de) n. Greek: πειραματόζωο (el) (peiramatózoo) n.

Hungarian: kísérleti nyúl (hu) Macedonian: заморче (mk) (zámorče) m., Norwegian: prøvekanin (no) m. Polish: królik doświadczalny m. Portuguese: cobaia (pt) f. Russian: подопытный кролик (ru) (podópytnyj króklik) m. Slovak: pokusný králik m. Spanish: conejillo de Indias (es) m. Swedish: försökskanin (sv) c.