mongoose

English

"Large grey" or "Egyptian" mongoose

Indian mongoose

Northern Ring-tailed
Malagasy Mongoose

Wikispecies

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• mungoose (archaic)

Etymology

1690s. Borrowed from Portuguese mangusto, from Marathi मुंगूस (muṅgūs), from Old Marathi 𑘦𑘳𑘽𑘐𑘳𑘭 (muṃgusa), from Telugu ముంగిస (muṅgisa). Spelling altered by folk-etymological association with goose. Displaced native Old English nǣderbita (literally “snake biter”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒŋ.ɡuːs/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑŋ.ɡus/, /ˈmʌŋ.ɡus/
• Rhymes: -ɒŋɡuːs, -ɑŋɡus, -ʌŋɡus

Noun

mongoose (plural mongooses or (nonstandard) mongeese)

1. Any of several species of generalist predatory Carnivores in the family Herpestidae; the various species range in size from rats to large cats. The Indian mongoose is noted as a predator of venomous snakes, though other mongoose species have similar habits.
   • 1864, John Holmes Agnew et al., The Eclectic Magazine: Foreign Literature‎^[1]:

     After the mongoose had satisfied its appetite, we proceeded to examine with a pocket lens the wounds he had received from the cobra; and on cleansing one of these places, the lens disclosed the broken fang of the cobra deeply imbedded in the head of the mongoose... We have had the mongoose confined ever since (now four days' time), and it is as healthy and lively as ever.

   • 1924, Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book:Rikki-Tikki-Tavi:

     He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in his head and his habits.

2. Any species of Malagasy mongooses; only distantly related to the Herpestidae, these are members of the family Eupleridae; they resemble mongooses in appearance and habits, but have larger ears and ringed tails.

Derived terms

• African mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon)
• Angolan slender mongoose (Galerella flavescens)
• banded mongoose (Mungos mungo)
• Bengal mongoose (Herpestes javanicus palustris)
• black-footed mongoose (Bdeogale nigripes)
• black-legged mongoose (Bdeogale nigripes)
• black mongoose (Galerella nigrata)
• brown-tailed mongoose (Salanoia concolor)
• bushy-tailed mongoose (Bdeogale crassicauda)
• Cape gray mongoose (Galerella pulverulenta)
• collared mongoose (Herpestes semitorquatus)
• common dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula)
• common mongoose (Herpestes edwardsi)
• crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva)
• dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula)
• Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon)
• Gambian mongoose (Mungos gambianus)
• Grandidier's mongoose (Galidictis grandidieri)
• Indian brown mongoose (Herpestes fuscus)
• Indian gray mongoose/Indian mongoose (Herpestes edwardsi)
• Liberian mongoose (Liberiictis kuhni)
• long-nosed mongoose (Herpestes naso)
• Jackson's mongoose (Bdeogale jacksoni)
• Javan mongoose (Herpestes javanicus)
• large gray mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon)
• marsh mongoose (Herpestes javanicus palustris)
• Meller's mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri)
• mongoose bat
• mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz)
• narrow-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata)
• Pousargues's mongoose (Dologale dybowskii)
• ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans)
• ruddy mongoose (Herpestes smithii)
• Selous's mongoose (Paracynictis selousi)
• short-tailed mongoose (Herpestes brachyurus)
• slender mongoose (Galerella sanguinea)
• stripe-necked mongoose (Herpestes vitticollis)
• Somalian slender mongoose (Galerella ochracea)
• white-tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda)
• yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata)
• zebra mongoose (Mungos mungo)

Translations

small carnivore of the family Herpestidae

• Afrikaans: muishond
• Arabic: نِمْس‎ m (nims)

  Egyptian Arabic: نمس‎ m (nims)

• Armenian: մանգուստ (mangust)
• Assamese: নেউল (neul)
• Azerbaijani: manqustlar
• Basque: mangosta
• Belarusian: мангу́ст m (manhúst)
• Bulgarian: мангу́ста (bg) f (mangústa)
• Burmese: မြွေပါ (my) (mrwepa)
• Catalan: mangosta f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 獴 (zh) (měng), 貓鼬 (zh), 猫鼬 (zh) (māoyòu)

• Czech: mangusta (cs) f (genera Bdeogale, Crossarchus, Cynictis, Dologale, Helogale, Ichneumia, Liberiictis, Mungos, Paracynictis and Rhynchogale), promyka (cs) f (genera Atilax, Galerella and Herpestes), surikata (cs) f (genus Suricata)
• Dutch: mangoeste (nl) c
• Esperanto: herpesto, mungoto
• Estonian: mangust
• Finnish: mangusti (fi)
• French: mangouste (fr)
• Galician: mangosta (gl) f
• German: Manguste f, Mungo (de) m
• Greek: μαγκούστα (el) (magkoústa)

  Ancient: ἰχνεύμων m (ikhneúmōn)

• Gujarati: નોળિયો (noḷiyo)
• Hawaiian: manakuke
• Hebrew: נְמִיָּה‎ (he) f (nemiyá)
• Hindi: नेवला (hi) (nevlā)
• Hungarian: mongúz (hu), mungó (hu), manguszta
• Ido: mangusto (io)
• Indonesian: garangan (id), cerpelai (id)
• Irish: mongús m
• Italian: mangusta (it) f
• Japanese: マングース (ja) (mangūsu), 猫鼬 (ねこいたち, nekoitachi)
• Javanese: garangan (jv)
• Kashmiri: نوٗل‎ (nūl)
• Khmer: សត្វស្កា (satvoskaa)

• Korean: 몽구스 (mongguseu)
• Lao: ຈອນພອນ (chǭn phǭn)
• Lithuanian: mangusta f
• Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀡𑀉𑀮 (ṇaüla)
• Malay: cerpelai, bambun
• Malayalam: കീരി (ml) (kīri)
• Marathi: मुंगूस (muṅgūs)
• Mon: ဇၞးဇာတ် (mnw)
• Nepali: न्याउरी (nyāurī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mungo m

• Old English: nǣderbita m
• Pali: nakula m
• Persian: خدنگ‎ (fa) (xadang)
• Polish: mangusta (pl) f
• Portuguese: mangusto m, fuinha (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਨਿਓਲਾ (niolā)
• Romanian: mangustă (ro) f
• Russian: мангу́ст (ru) m (mangúst)
• Sanskrit: नकुल (sa) m (nakulá)
• Shona: jerenyenje
• Slovene: mungo (sl) m
• Spanish: mangosta (es) f
• Sundanese: ᮜᮞᮥᮔ᮪ (lasun)
• Swahili: nguchiro
• Swedish: mungo c, mangust (sv) c
• Tamil: கீரி (ta) (kīri), கீரிப்பிள்ளை (ta) (kīrippiḷḷai)
• Telugu: ముంగిస (te) (muṅgisa)
• Thai: พังพอน (pang-pɔɔn)
• Tocharian B: nakūle
• Turkish: firavun faresi, kuyruksüren (tr)
• Ukrainian: мангу́ст m (manhúst)
• Vietnamese: (cầy) mangut
• Volapük: mungud (vo)
• Welsh: mongŵs m
• Wolof: sikkóor bi

any species of Malagasy mongoose

• Finnish: madagaskarinmangusti

Anagrams

• gonosome