cavy

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: kāʹvē, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪ.vi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvi
• Homophone: cave (interjection)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *aŋuja?

Old Tupi saûîáder.

taxonomic name Cavia

Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij-

Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English cavy

From taxonomic name Cavia + English -y; the genus name Cavia was introduced by Dutch naturalist Willem Piso in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648), and the initial ⟨c⟩ was supposed to represent [s], but unaware of this, the spelling pronunciation became [k].

Noun

cavy (plural cavies)

Cavies

1. Synonym of domestic guinea pig.

   Synonyms: domestic cavy, domestic guinea pig, guinea pig

2. Any rodent in the Caviidae.

Derived terms

• acrobatic cavy
• caviary
• mountain cavy
• musk cavy
• Patagonian cavy
• restless cavy
• rock cavy
• water cavy
• yellow-toothed cavy

Translations

guinea pig — see guinea pig

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Middle English cave

English cave

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

blend

English cavy

Blend of cave + -y.

Adjective

cavy (comparative more cavy, superlative most cavy)

1. Alternative form of cavey (“cave-like”).
   • 1914, Nottingham (England). Chamber of Commerce, Commercial Year Book (page 46)

     Asser stated that the British name was Tiuogsbane, which means "the cavy place," and is taken to refer to homes hollowed out of the soft sandstone.

Etymology 3

Variant of cavvy.

Noun

cavy (plural cavies)

1. Alternative spelling of cavvy (group of saddle horses).
   • 1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, Prairie Kid; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 49:

     Somewhere there must be an outfit that needed a wrangler on the home place, a helper to bring in the cavy for the cowboys and chore around for the cook.

Anagrams

• VyAc