opossum

See also: Opossum

English

An opossum.

Etymology

From Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”), from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa (“white dog”); compare Ojibwe waabasim (“white dog”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈpɒsəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ə-päsʹəm, IPA^(key): /əˈpɑsəm/ or in abbreviated form like possum, as /ˈpɑsəm/
• Hyphenation: o‧pos‧sum

Noun

opossum (plural opossums)

2. Any American marsupial of the family Didelphidae. The common species of the United States is Didelphis virginiana.
3. Any of the marsupials in several families of the order Diprotodontia of Australia and neighboring islands.

Synonyms

• possum (US)

Derived terms

• colocolo opossum
• gray short-tailed opossum
• mouse opossum
• opossum mouse (Cercartetus nanus)
• opossum rat (Rattus marmosurus)
• opossum shrimp (order Mysida)
• shrew opossum (family Caenolestidae)
• water opossum (Chironectes minimus)
• woolly mouse opossum
• woolly opossum

 

Descendants

• → Catalan: opòssum
• → Finnish: opossumi
• → Irish: apasam

Translations

marsupial of the Didelphidae

• Alawa: gudjaɳi
• Arabic: أُوبُسُوم m (ʔubusum)
• Asturian: zarigüeya (ast)
• Basque: zarigueia
• Bulgarian: опо́сум (opósum)
• Catalan: sariga f, opòssum m
• Cherokee: ᏏᏆ ᎤᏤᏣᏍᏗ (siqua utsetsasdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 負鼠 / 负鼠 (zh) (fùshǔ)

• Czech: vačice (cs) f
• Danish: opossum c, pungrotte c
• Dutch: opossum (nl) m, Amerikaanse buidelrat f
• Erzya: ашопине (ašopińe)
• Esperanto: didelfo
• Finnish: opossumi (fi)
• Fox: êyênîha
• French: sarigue (fr) f, opossum (fr) m, rat de bois m (Louisiana)
• Gagadu: mɔɳɔ
• Georgian: ოპოსუმისებრნი (oṗosumisebrni)
• German: Beutelratte f
• Greek: οπόσουμ (el) n (opósoum)
• Guaraní: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: אופוסום (opossum)
• Hungarian: oposszum (hu)
• Icelandic: pokarotta f
• Ido: didelfo (io)
• Irish: apasam m
• Italian: opossum (it) m, sariga (it) f
• Japanese: オポッサム (opossamu), 袋鼠 (fukuronezumi)
• Korean: 주머니쥐 (jumeonijwi)
• Lithuanian: oposumai
• Miami: aayeeliiwa, eeyeelia
• Nanticoke: nah!simmini
• Navajo: biyázhí neiyéhé
• Norwegian: pungrotte f
• Nyunga: goomal
• Occitan: sariga f
• Ojibwe: ayaanii
• Old Tupi: taîyby (male), sarigûeîa (female)
• Osage: sį́štaa
• Persian: صاریغ (fa) (sâriğ)
• Polish: opos (pl) m, dydelf (pl) m
• Portuguese: gambá (pt) m, cuíca (pt) f, opossum m, sariguê
• Quechua: q'ara chupa
• Romanian: oposum (ro) m, (rare) sarigă f
• Russian: опо́ссум (ru) m (opóssum)
• Saramaccan: kpátíwójo
• Spanish: (especially formal or scientific usage) zarigüeya (es) f, (Bolivia) carachupa (es) f, (Colombia) chucha (es) f, (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) comadreja (es) f, (Venezuelan Andes) faro (es) m, (Peru) muca (es) f, (Venezuelan standard usage) rabipelado m, (Ecuador) raposa f, (Honduras) tacuacín m, (El Salvador, Guatemala) tacuazín m, (Mexico) tlacuache (es) m, (Panama) zorra (es) f, (Nicaragua) zorro cola pelada m, (Costa Rica) zorro pelón m, tlacoache m
• Swahili: kifaurongo
• Swedish: pungråtta (sv) c
• Tagalog: sarigweya
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: опо́сум m (opósum)
• Unami: òpinkw
• Vietnamese: ô-pốt-sâm, thú ô-pốt
• Welsh: oposwm m

See also

• yapok

Further reading

• “opossum”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Didelphidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Didelphidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Corsican

Un opossum.

Etymology

Borrowed from English opossum, from Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈposːum/

Noun

opossum m (plural opossi)

1. opossum

References

• “opossum” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English opossum, from Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”), from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa (“white dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌoːˈpɔ.sʏm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: opos‧sum

Noun

opossum m (plural opossums, diminutive opossumpje n)

1. opossum, marsupial of the family Didelphidae

   Synonym: buidelrat

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.pɔ.sɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

opossum m (plural opossums)

1. opossum

   Synonyms: sarigue; (Louisiana) rat de bois

Further reading

• “opossum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.