dormouse
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dormouse
- /ˈdɔɹ.maʊs/ US
- /ˈdɔː.maʊs/ UK
Rhymes with -aʊs
Where it comes from
From Middle English dormowse, of uncertain origin. Possibly from a dialectal *dor-, from Old Norse dár (“benumbed”) + mous (“mouse”). More at doze, mouse.
The word is sometimes conjectured to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of Old French dormir (“to sleep”) (as *dormouse (“tending to be dormant”), with second element mistaken for mouse), but no such Anglo-Norman term is known to have existed.
noun dormice · doormouse
- Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae. For a long time the dormouse and polecat had seemed to him overfeeble enemies for his restless valour, even as the granary floor seemed to afford too narrow a field. Every day he read the papers of the previous day in the servants' hall of the houses he visited, and it appeared to him that this war
- Glis glis (edible dormouse).
- Muscardinus avellanarius (hazel dormouse).
- A person who sleeps a great deal, or who falls asleep readily (by analogy with the sound hibernation of the dormouse). If only he could see their kits, curled like sleepy dormice in the nursery.^([Note: The word "kit" is not an error; this quotation shows the thoughts of a cat in a society of cats.])
Similar: glirid
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: glirid
Translations
Every language
noun rodent
| Español | lirón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 겨울잠쥐 gyeouljamjwi |
| 日本語 | ヤマネ yamane |
| 中文 | 睡鼠 shuìshǔ |
| Português | arganaz |
| Français | loir |
| Deutsch | Bilch, Bilchmaus, Schläfer, Schlafmaus, Siebenschläfer, Gartenschläfer |
| Italiano | ghiro, moscardino, muscardinide |
| Ελληνικά | δασομυωξός dasomyoxós |
| Română | pârș |
| Русский | со́ня sónja |
| Tiếng Việt | chuột sóc |
noun A person who sleeps a great deal
| Español | lirón |
|---|---|
| Português | dorminhoco |
| Deutsch | Siebenschläfer, Schlafmütze |
| Italiano | ghiro |
| Русский | со́ня sónja |
Talk about this word "dormouse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dormouse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dormouse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dormouse "dormouse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dormouse.Cite this
@misc{dormouse_2026,
title = {dormouse},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dormouse},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
