muskrat

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a semiaquatic North American rodent with dark brown fur and a long, flattened, scaly tail

   A muskrat swam toward its lodge at the edge of the marsh.

2. 2
   noun

   the fur or pelt of a muskrat

   The museum displayed a vintage coat trimmed with muskrat.

Probably reshaped by folk etymology from an Algonquian animal name akin to Massachusett musquash. English speakers altered the unfamiliar form under the influence of musk, referring to the animal's odor, and rat, referring to its appearance.

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