chauve-souris

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See also: chauvesouris

French

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French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Used as early as the 8th century in Gallic Late Latin calva sōrex (bald mouse); the first element ("bald") may originally be an alteration of Vulgar Latin *cawa (crow, tawny owl). Equivalent to chauve (bald) +‎ souris (mouse).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ʃov.su.ʁi/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Paris):(file)

Noun

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chauve-souris f (plural chauves-souris)

  1. bat (a small flying mammal of the order Chiroptera)
    Synonym: (Louisiana) souris chaude
    • 2002, Ya-Fu Lee, Gary F. McCracken, “Foraging activity and food resources use of Brazilian free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis (Molossidae)”, in Écoscience, page 306:
      Les habitudes alimentaires des chauves-souris ont été déterminées à partir d’échantillons de fèces. Nous avons également vérifié la composition et l’abondance relative des différents ordres d’insectes dans les trois habitats à l’aide de pièges lumineux. Les villes où les rues sont éclairées par des lampes à vapeur de mercure constituent d’importantes aires d’alimentation pour les chauves-souris.
      Food habits of the bats were determined from fecal samples, and the composition and relative abundance of various insect orders in the three habitats were assessed using light traps. Towns with mercury-vapor type street lamps appeared to be important feeding areas for the bats.
  2. (heraldry) a charge depicting the animal of the same name

Derived terms

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Further reading

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