Meerkatze

German

FWOTD – 6 March 2015

Etymology

From Middle High German merekatze, from Old High German merikazza (11th century); equivalent to Meer (“sea”) +‎ Katze (“cat”). So called probably because they were brought to Europe over the sea from Africa. The restriction to the specific species is obviously not original, but a fairly recent scientific use. Adelung (ca. 1780) still defines it as referring to any long-tailed monkey. Compare Middle Dutch meercatte, whence eventually English meerkat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeːrˌkatsə/, [ˈmeːɐ̯ˌkät͡sə], [ˈmɛɐ̯-]

Noun

Meerkatze f (genitive Meerkatze, plural Meerkatzen)

1. guenon (kind of monkey)
   • 1907, Friedrich Dahl, Versuche über den Farbensinn bei einer Meerkatze

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with English meerkat (“kind of mongoose”), the German word for which is Erdmännchen.

Derived terms

• Grüne Meerkatze f

Further reading

• “Meerkatze” in Duden online