aardvark

See also: aard-vark

English

An aardvark.

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• aard-vark, erdvark

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans aardvark (obsolete), erdvark, from aarde (“earth”, from Middle Dutch aerde) +‎ vark (“pig”, from Middle Dutch varken). Early European colonists in South Africa noticed that the animal was similar to a pig, while aarde hints at the animal's habit of burrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːd.vɑːk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑɹd.vɑɹk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

Noun

aardvark (plural aardvarki)

1. The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing, mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata, somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa. [from late 18^th c.]

   Synonyms: African anteater, antbear, ant bear, anteater, earth pig

   The aardvark burrows in the ground and feeds mostly on termites, which it catches with its long, slimy tongue.

Derived terms

• aardvarking
• Brazilian aardvark
• from aardvark to zymurgy

 

Translations

mammal

• Afrikaans: erdvark (af), (obsolete) aardvark (af)
• Amharic: ጃርት (ǧart)
• Arabic: خِنْزِير اَلْأَرْض‎ m (ḵinzīr al-ʔarḍ)
• Armenian: խողովակատամ (hy) (xołovakatam), աֆրիկյան մրջնակեր (afrikyan mrǰnaker)
• Azerbaijani: borudişli
• Basque: urde inurrijale
• Bavarian: erdfàggi
• Bengali: আর্ডভার্ক (arḍobhark), দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকার জন্তুবিশেষ (dokkhin aphrikar jontubiśeś)
• Bulgarian: мравояд (bg) m (mravojad)
• Catalan: porc formiguer m
• Cherokee: ᏙᏒᏓᎵ ᏗᎦᏰᏍᎩ (dosvdali digayesgi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 土豚 (zh) (tǔtún)

• Cornish: porhel dor m
• Czech: hrabáč m, hrabáč kapský m
• Danish: jordsvin (da) n
• Dutch: aardvarken (nl) n
• Erzya: модатуво (modatuvo)
• Esperanto: orikteropo, terporko
• Estonian: tuhnik (et)
• Finnish: maasika (fi)
• French: oryctérope (fr) m
• Galician: porco formigueiro m, oricteropo m
• Georgian: მილკბილა (milḳbila)
• German: Erdferkel (de) n
• Greek: μυρμηγκοφάγος (el) m (myrmigkofágos)
• Hadza: usai
• Hausa: dagbi
• Hebrew: שנבוב‎ m
• Hungarian: földimalac (hu)
• Icelandic: jarðsvín n
• Igala: ọ̀gbọ̀wù
• Interlingua: orycteropo
• Irish: arcán talún (ga) m
• Italian: oritteropo (it) m
• Japanese: 土豚 (ja) (tsuchibuta)
• Juǀ'hoan: gǃkún
• Korean: 땅돼지 (ttangdwaeji)
• Latin: orycteropus m
• Limburgish: eerdverke
• Lithuanian: vamzdžiadančiai
• Malay: ardvark (ms), babi tanah
• Maltese: orikteropu m
• Manx: muc hallooin f
• Norman: couochon d’tèrre m
• Norwegian: jordsvin n
• Oromo: awaaldiigessa (om) ?, olokee (om) ?, waldiigessa
• Persian: خوک خاکی‎ (xuk-e xâki)
• Polish: mrównik (pl) m, prosię ziemne (pl) n
• Portuguese: oricterope (pt) m, porco-da-terra (pt) m, jimbo m, porco-formigueiro (pt) m, timba (pt) f, timbo (pt) m, aardvark (pt) m
• Romanian: porcul termitelor m
• Russian: трубкозу́б (ru) m (trubkozúb)
• Scottish Gaelic: mathan-sheangan m
• Spanish: cerdo hormiguero (es) m
• Swahili: (nc 1/2) mhanga
• Swedish: jordsvin (sv) n
• Thai: อาร์ดวาร์ก
• Tswana: thakadu (nc 9/10)
• Turkish: karıncayiyen (tr), aardvark (tr), borudişli
• Ukrainian: трубкозу́б m (trubkozúb)
• Welsh: baedd daear m, grugarth f
• Wolof: njaxat bi
• Yiddish: ערדשווײַן‎ m (erdshvayn)
• Yoruba: àfèìmòjò
• Zulu: isambane (zu) class 7/8

References

• Aard-vark in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• Jonathan E. Lighter, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume I, A-G. Random House USA, 1994. →ISBN. page 1.

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch aardvarken, from aarde (“earth, soil”) +‎ varken (“pig”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

aardvark (plural aardvarke)

1. Alternative form of erdvark

Descendants

• → English: aardvark

Portuguese

Noun

aardvark m (plural aardvarks)

1. aardvark (mammal)

   Synonyms: oricterope, porco-da-terra, jimbo, porco-formigueiro, timba, timbo