polecat

English

A marbled polecat (weasel-like animal).

Etymology

From Middle French pole (“hen”) + cat. Origin unknown, possible explanations include its fondness for poultry, or the Old English word fol, "foul", because of its smell. The same species was also known as folmart, "foul martin".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpəʊlkæt/

Noun

polecat (plural polecats)

1. A weasel-like animal of the genus Mustela.
   1. notably, the European polecat, Mustela putorius.
      • 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 61

        By the little garden pergola open to the winds some fluttered peacocks were blotted nervelessly amid the dripping trees, their heads sunk back beneath their wings: while in the pergola itself, like a fallen storm-cloud, lolled a negress, her levelled, polecat eyes semi-veiled by the nebulous alchemy of the rainbow.

      Synonyms: fitch, foumart

2. (US, dialect) A skunk.

Derived terms

• European polecat
• marbled polecat
• steppe polecat
• striped polecat

 

Translations

weasel of the genus Mustela

• Arabic: نِمْس m (nims)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: kärppä (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Georgian: ქრცვინი (krcvini)
• German: Geschlecht der Wiesel, Iltisse und Marder n
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: feocallan m

Mustela putorius

• Albanian: bundër f, qelbës (sq) m
• Arabic: نِمْس m (nims)
• Armenian: ժանտաքիս (hy) (žantakʻis)
• Basque: ipurtats
• Belarusian: тхор лясны́ m (txor ljasný), тхор чо́рны m (txor čórny), тхор m (txor)
• Breton: pudask m
• Bulgarian: прът (bg) m (prǎt)
• Catalan: turó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 艾虎 (zh) (àihǔ)

• Czech: tchoř (cs) m
• Danish: ilder c
• Dutch: bunzing (nl) m
• Esperanto: putoro
• Estonian: tuhkur
• Finnish: hilleri (fi)
• French: putois (fr) m
• Friulian: puçul ?, pufe ?, pudîs ?, spuç ?
• Galician: tourón (gl) m, furón (gl) m
• German: Iltis (de) m
• Greek: βρωμοκούναβο n (vromokoúnavo)
• Hungarian: görény (hu)
• Irish: cat coille m, toghán m
• Italian: puzzola (it) f
• Japanese: ケナガイタチ (kenagaitachi), ヨーロッパケナガイタチ (Yōroppa kenagaitachi)
• Latgalian: saskys m
• Latin: mustella f, putorius m
• Latvian: sesks ?
• Lithuanian: šeškas (lt) ?
• Macedonian: обичен твор ? (običen tvor)
• Navajo: tó wónaanídę́ę́ʼ dlǫ́ʼii
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norman: putouais m (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: ^{(please verify)} čáhppesbuoidda
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ilder m

  Nynorsk: ilder m

• Occitan: catpudre m
• Polish: tchórz (pl) ?
• Portuguese: toirão (pt) m
• Romani: mutsa-kandini f
• Romanian: dihor (ro) ?
• Romansch: telpi m
• Russian: хорёк (ru) m (xorjók), хорь (ru) m (xorʹ), хорь чёрный m (xorʹ čórnyj), хорь лесно́й m (xorʹ lesnój)
• Sardinian: pùtzola ?
• Scottish Gaelic: feocallan-Eòrpach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тво̑р m

  Latin: tvȏr (sh) m

• Slovak: tchor obyčajný ?
• Slovene: dihur (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: twóŕ m

  Upper Sorbian: tchór m

• Spanish: turón m
• Swedish: iller (sv) ?
• Turkish: kokarca (tr)
• Ukrainian: тхір лісови́й m (txir lisovýj), тхір чо́рний m (txir čórnyj)
• Vietnamese: triết (vi)
• Walloon: vexhåd (wa) ?, vexhoes (wa) m
• Welsh: ffwlbart m
• West Frisian: murd ?

skunk — see skunk

Further reading

• polecat on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• colpate, pot lace