meerkat
noun/ˈmɪəkæt/
/ˈmɪrkæt/
- a small southern African animal with a long tail, which often stands up on its back legs. Meerkats are a type of mongoose.Topics Animalsc2Word Originearly 18th cent.: from South African Dutch, from Dutch, ‘long-tailed monkey’, apparently from meer ‘sea’ + kat ‘cat’, but perhaps originally an alteration of an oriental word; compare with Hindi markaṭ ‘ape’.
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meerkat