stekelvarken

Dutch

Etymology

1708, from stekel (“spike”) +‎ varken (“pig”), perhaps through German Stachelschwein (1556), eventually after the Romance family of terms to which belong Italian porcospino, English porcupine. A slightly earlier Dutch word was ijzervarken (literally “iron pig”), whence Afrikaans ystervark.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsteːkəlˌvɑrkə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ste‧kel‧var‧ken

Noun

stekelvarken n (plural stekelvarkens, diminutive stekelvarkentje n)

1. a porcupine, large rodent of the families Erethizontidae and Hystricidae

See also

• egel