opossum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a mainly nocturnal American marsupial with a pointed snout and usually a long, nearly hairless prehensile tail

   An opossum climbed the fence after searching the garden for insects and fruit.

Borrowed in the seventeenth century from Powhatan aposoum, 'white animal,' from a Proto-Algonquian compound meaning approximately 'white dog.' The spelling was later reshaped under the influence of Latin-looking forms; possum arose by dropping the unstressed first syllable.

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