desman

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desman

/ˈdɛsmən/ UK
/ˈdɛz.mən/ US

Where it comes from

From French desman, German Desman, from Swedish desmanråtta (“muskrat”), from desman (“musk”, older also desma, desme), from Middle Low German dēsem, from Old Saxon desamo, alteration of *besamo (cf. Old High German bisamo), from Late Latin bisamum (“musk”), from Hebrew בושם (bāśām, bōśem). Doublet of balm and balsam.

noun desmans

Either of two species, Desmana moschata or Galemys pyrenaicus, of aquatic or semiaquatic insectivore of the mole family, Talpidae, found in Europe. Unlike the Russian desman, the Pyrenean species lives along fast-flowing mountain streams.

Translations

Every language

noun insectivore of the mole family

Español	desmán
Português	toupeira-de-água
Français	desman
Deutsch	Desman, Bisamrüssler
Română	desman
Русский	вы́хухоль výxuxolʹ

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Cite this

MLA

"desman." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/desman. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

desman. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/desman

Chicago

"desman." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/desman.

BibTeX

@misc{desman_2026,
  title = {desman},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/desman},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}