Hello i wonder
How do you say in your languaje ferret an mustelidae small animal?
Thanks
How do you say in your languaje ferret an mustelidae small animal?
Thanks
Ferret animal
- Thread starter j.Constantine
- Start date
Why didn't you start by saying that in Spanish?!
Furetto in Italian from Latin fur-furis (thief), due to its ability to drive out wild rabbits.
Hurón in Spanish, strangely enough, hurón has the same etymology as Italian furetto but with the dropped initial F, which is quite common in Spanish.
Last edited:
I didnt think about that i use to write some things english normally so all can undestand
Last edited:
Cymraeg/Welsh
ffured, ffuret, ffurell (all feminine nouns).
Welsh letter <ff> is always /f/. (It's not a typo.)
ffured, ffuret, ffurell (all feminine nouns).
Welsh letter <ff> is always /f/. (It's not a typo.)
Greek:
«Νυφίτσα» [niˈfi.ʦ͡a] (fem.) < ByzGr fem. diminutive «νυ(μ)φίτσα» ny(m)phítsa of fem. «νύ(μ)φη» ný(m)phē < Classical fem. noun «νύμφη» númpʰē --> bride, young lady, nymph (lesser goddess of rivers/lakes/forests), from possible PIE root *sneu̯bʰ- cf Lat. nūbere + productive suffix in Byz & MoGr to form fem. diminutives «-ίτσα» [-íʦ͡a] influenced from the Byz.Gr. neut. diminutive «-ίτσιν» -ítsin following tsitakism (affrication of [k] > [ʦ]) of Koine «-ίκιν» -íkin < Classical neut. diminutive suffix
«-ίκιον» -íkiŏn.
In Ancient Greek the animal's name was «γαλέη/γαλῆ» găléē (fem. uncontracted)/«γαλῆ» gălê (contracted), from PIE *gl̥Hi-/*gl̥h₁eu̯s- mouse, dormouse, weasel cf Skt. गिरि (girí), mouse, Lat. glīs, dormouse. According to Beekes:
Edit: Added ancient name
«Νυφίτσα» [niˈfi.ʦ͡a] (fem.) < ByzGr fem. diminutive «νυ(μ)φίτσα» ny(m)phítsa of fem. «νύ(μ)φη» ný(m)phē < Classical fem. noun «νύμφη» númpʰē --> bride, young lady, nymph (lesser goddess of rivers/lakes/forests), from possible PIE root *sneu̯bʰ- cf Lat. nūbere + productive suffix in Byz & MoGr to form fem. diminutives «-ίτσα» [-íʦ͡a] influenced from the Byz.Gr. neut. diminutive «-ίτσιν» -ítsin following tsitakism (affrication of [k] > [ʦ]) of Koine «-ίκιν» -íkin < Classical neut. diminutive suffix
«-ίκιον» -íkiŏn.
In Ancient Greek the animal's name was «γαλέη/γαλῆ» găléē (fem. uncontracted)/«γαλῆ» gălê (contracted), from PIE *gl̥Hi-/*gl̥h₁eu̯s- mouse, dormouse, weasel cf Skt. गिरि (girí), mouse, Lat. glīs, dormouse. According to Beekes:
Note that γαλέη was used as a pet by the ancient Greeks to hunt down rabbits or mice, but after the import of cats from Egypt, the new animal was much more preferable because the Egyptian hunter was less...stinky than the previous one. Γαλέη/γαλῆ then became the colloquial vernacular name of the new imported animal.Beekes said:
Edit: Added ancient name
Last edited:
Russian:
хорёк (khoryók) [xɐ'ɾʲɔk]; the Proto-Slavic etymology is ~"little stinky one".
хорёк (khoryók) [xɐ'ɾʲɔk]; the Proto-Slavic etymology is ~"little stinky one".
That is why, they say, Leonardo painted Cecilia Gallerani with a ferret in her arms, because of the resemblance of her name with the Greek word for "ferret" (or weasel, or ermine)....
Catalan:
fura
Aragonese:
furón
All these Romance forms starting with fur- (and the English ferret too) come from derivations of the Latin fur 'thief', and therefore are related to the way of saying "theft" in most Romance languages (furt, furto, hurto).
fura
Aragonese:
furón
All these Romance forms starting with fur- (and the English ferret too) come from derivations of the Latin fur 'thief', and therefore are related to the way of saying "theft" in most Romance languages (furt, furto, hurto).
It's the same in Galician and in Asturian although in the later Turón is documented too.
Furão in Portuguese
Polecat in Greek is «οζοϊκτίς» [ɔ.zɔ.iˈktis] (fem.) or «βρωμοκούναβο» [vrɔ.mɔˈku.na.vɔ] (neut.).
The former is the formal/scientific name and means strong-smelling marten = compound, first element «ὀζο-» ŏzŏ- from the Classical verb «ὄζω» ózō --> to smell, scent (PIE *h₃ed- to smell cf Lat. odōrāre, Lith. užuosti, to smell) + Classical fem. noun «ἴκτις» íktĭs --> marten (of unknown etymology).
The latter is the MoGr vernacular name, a hybrid word, and means...strong-smelling-marten = compound, oblique «βρωμο-» [vrɔ.mɔ-] as first element in compounds --> strong-smelling, foul-smelling < MoGr fem. noun «βρώμα» [ˈvrɔ.ma] --> foul smell, stench < Classical masc. «βρῶμος» brômŏs or fem. «βρῶμα» brômă --> stench, ordure (of unknown etymology) + MoGr neut. «κουνάβι» [kuˈna.vi] --> marten < ByzGr neut. diminutive «κουνάβι(ο)ν» kounábi(o)n & «κουνάδι(ο)ν» kounádi(o)n < South Slavic куна < Proto-Slavic *kuna, marten.
It iis a fret in Dutch - and is notorious for nibbling at electric car wires... ;-)
I've always known this animal as a "polecat".
Is fret the contraction of ferret?
Last edited:
According to Wikipedia:
Polecat (Mustelinae) is a carnivorous mammal related to the weasel. Its domesticated variety is referred to as ferret.
Polecat is a common name [...]; the name is applied to several species with broad similarities (including having a dark mask-like marking across the face) to European polecats, the only polecat species native to the British Isles.
In the United States, the term polecat is sometimes applied to the black-footed ferret, a native member of the Mustelinae. In Southern United States dialect, the term polecat is sometimes used as a colloquial nickname for the skunk, which are only distantly related.
In the US, I expect 'polecat' is another word for 'skunk' in the East and Midwest. I've never lived in the southern US, and to me 'polecat' is the same as 'skunk,' and has nothing to do with black-footed ferrets.
Basque:
Ipurtats (Mustela putorius): Sp. turón, En. European polecat
Hudo (Mustela putorius furo): Sp. hurón, En. ferret
(from the wiki)
Ipurtats (Mustela putorius): Sp. turón, En. European polecat
Hudo (Mustela putorius furo): Sp. hurón, En. ferret
(from the wiki)
Really? Skunk and polecat are the same for you? Those are clearly different for me. The word that isn't clear is ferret
Ferret is one of those words I'd never have learned if I hadn't gone abroad. It's the usual case where someone uses the word and I have no idea what they are talking about. No dictionary helps. I have to do research and then come to the conclusion what it is. It often happens with wild animals
If I were to name three mustelids off the top of my head, I'd say skunks, weasels, and fishers (aka fisher cats). Perhaps the reason I associate 'polecat' with 'skunk' more than with ''black-footed ferret' is because I have no idea what a black-footed ferret is. I do know what a weasel is, though -- the small variety of weasel looks like a ferret -- but I don't think I've ever heard anyone call a weasel a polecat.
I don't think ferrets crossed my consciousness until friends of mine got a couple of them as pets.
I don't think ferrets crossed my consciousness until friends of mine got a couple of them as pets.
Skunks'll always be mustelids to me. At least they are still in the 'extended family' of Musteloidea.
Mephitidae -- like mephitic. If I were a skunk I would not take kindly to that name.
At least they are still in the 'extended family' of Musteloidea.Mephitidae -- like mephitic. If I were a skunk I would not take kindly to that name.
People are a bit crazy to have them as pets. They're small but they're still wild. I had someone tell me they had one as a pet too and I had to do research to understand what it could be, and I came up with polecat.
Look at the photo in post number 1, you wouldn't call that a skunk would you? Weasles are big things. Now you stumped me because I don't know what a fisher is. I checked out the picture on wikipedia. They look scary. I'm from too far south to have ever seen one of those animals.
I would call the animal in #1 a weasel. It's definitely not a skunk. I'm not saying that what you call a weasel I call a skunk - I'm saying that 'polecat,' the 'nickname' you use for weasel, is the 'nickname' I know for skunk.
The least weasels I've seen are pretty little. They're about the size of a hefty gray squirrel (I'm not counting the tail of either animal) but much more slender. They're definitely smaller than a skunk.
The least weasels I've seen are pretty little. They're about the size of a hefty gray squirrel (I'm not counting the tail of either animal) but much more slender. They're definitely smaller than a skunk.
Swedish: Mustela putorius - iller (a word with unknown origin).
Finnish: hilleri or lahokas (the first from the Swedish, the second is also the name of a kind of mushrooms, might have something to do with the word laho, meaning rotten, the mushroom grows on rotten tree stumps, why the name of the animal I don't know).
Finnish: hilleri or lahokas (the first from the Swedish, the second is also the name of a kind of mushrooms, might have something to do with the word laho, meaning rotten, the mushroom grows on rotten tree stumps, why the name of the animal I don't know).
Isn’t the one that eats car parts a different mustelid, the beech marten Martes foina? Beech marten - Wikipedia
I think the ferret is a domesticated variant of the polecat Mustela putorius European polecat - Wikipedia
Last edited:
Owowow, you might be right!
Swedish (according to Wikipedia):
tamiller ("tame-polecat") or frett = ferret
iller = European polecat
Finnish:
fretti = ferret
hilleri = European polecat
lahokas (dialectal [map], obsolete) = hilleri
lahonäätä ( "rot-marten"; dialectal [map], obsolete) = hilleri
Several mushrooms end with -kas but the mushroom that grows on rotten tree stumps is lahokka.
In Britain we have weasels, stoats, (the weasels are weaselly distinguishable and stoats are stoatally different). Both are tiny, stoats always have a black tip to their tail when they are often called ermine, polecats are bigger but not enormous and are quite rare. Ferrets are a tame derivation of polecats and are often white and albino these sometimes go feral but they have been used for hunting mice and rats. Martens are slightly bigger and reddish brown these are rare. Mink have become feral and can a problem. The largest of the mustelids is the badger. All these are native to Europe and probably commoner than in Britain.