opossum

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology

From Powhatan opassum (“white animal”); compare Ojibwe waabasim (“white dog”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /əˈpɒsəm/, SAMPA: /@"pQs@m/
• (US) enPR: ə-päsʹəm, IPA: /əˈpɑsəm/, SAMPA: /@"pAs@m/
• Hyphenation: o‧pos‧sum

Noun

Wikipedia opossum (plural opossums)

1. (zoology) Any American marsupial of the genera Didelphys and Chironectes. The common species of the United States is Didelphys virginiana.

Synonyms

• possum (US)

Derived terms

• water opossum
• opossum mouse
• opossum shrimp

Translations

marsupial of the genera Didelphys and Chironectes

Arabic: أوبسوم (ar) ('ubusum) m. Basque: zarigueia (eu) Bulgarian: опосум (bg) (opósum) Cherokee: ᏏᏆᎤᏤᏣᏍᏗ (chr) (siquautsetsasdi) Chinese: Mandarin: 負鼠 (zh), 负鼠 (zh) (fùshǔ), 奧珀瑟姆 (zh), 奥珀瑟姆 (zh) (àopòsèmǔ) Czech: vačice (cs) f. Dutch: opossum (nl) Finnish: opossumi (fi) French: sarigue (fr) f., opossum (fr) m. German: Beutelratte (de) f. Greek: οπόσουμ (el) (opósoum) n. Hebrew: אופוסום (he) (opossum) Icelandic: pokarotta (is) f. Irish: apasam (ga) m.

Japanese: オポッサム (ja) (opossamu) Korean: 주머니쥐 (ko) (jumeonijwi) Lithuanian: oposumai Navajo: biyázhí neiyéhé Ojibwe: ayaanii Persian: صاریغ (fa) (sâriğ) Portuguese: gambá m., cuíca f. Romanian: oposum (ro) m., (rare) sarigă (ro) f. Russian: опоссум (ru) (opóssum) m. Spanish: zarigüeya f. (especially formal or scientific usage), carachupa f. (Bolivia), chucha f. (Colombia), comadreja f. (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay), faro m. (Venezuelan Andes), muca f. (Peru), rabipelado m. (Venezuelan standard usage), raposa f. (Ecuador), tacuacín m. (Honduras), tacuazín m. (El Salvador, Guatemala), tlacuache m. (Mexico), zorro cola pelada m. (Nicaragua), zorro pelón m. (Costa Rica) Swahili: oposumu (sw) Swedish: pungråtta c.

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Dutch

Noun

opossum ? (plural opossums, diminutive opossumpje)

1. opossum