Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-09-13
NAMES OF ANIMALS.
The Meaning of Some of Those Whose
Origin We Can Trace.

Origin We Can Trace.
Some Of the names Of the common.
est animals are lost in the dlmness
Of antiquity, such as fox, weasel
sheep, horse, dog and baboon. OF the
origin of these the clew is forever lost
With camel one cannot so further
back than the Latin word camelus, and
elephant Is derived from the old Hin.
doc word elph, which means an OK.
The old root Of the word wolf meant
one who tears or rends.
Lynx Is from the same Latin root
as the word lux QighO and probably
was given to these wildcats on &C.
count Of the fierce brightness Of their
eyes. Lion is. Of course, from the
Latin leo, which word, in turn, Is lost
far back in the Egyptian tongue,
where the word for the king of beasts
was labu. The compound word
leopard is first found in the Persian
language, where pnrs stands for pan
Their. Seal. very appropriately, was
once word meaning of the sea; close
to the Latin sal, the sea.
Puma. jaguar. tapir and peccary
(from paquires) are all names from
South American Indian languages.
The coyote and ocelet were called
coyoti and ocelote by the Mexicans
long before Cortes landed on their
shores.
Moose is from the Indian word
mouswah, meaning wood eater;
skunk, from seganku, an Algonquin
term; wapiti In the Greek language
means white deer, and was originally
applied to the Rocky mountain goat,
but the nume is now restricted to the
American elk. Caribou Is also ma.
tive Indian word; opossum Is from
possowne, and raccoon is from the In
dian arrathkune (by further aphere-
sis SOON.
Rhinoceros is pure Greek, meaning
nose horned, hut beaver has indeed
had Il rough time of it in Its travels
through various languages. 1t Is hard
ly recognizable US bebrus, babru and
bru. The latter is the ultimate root
Of the English word brown. The orig
count Of the color Of the creatures
fur. Otter goes back to Sanskrit,
where 1t Is udra. The significance Of
this word Is In Its close Einship to
udan. meaning water.
The little mouse hands it's name
down through the years from the old,
old Sanskrit. the root meaning to steal.
The word rat may have been derived
from the root Of the Latin word va
dere. to scratch. or rodere, to gnaw.
Rodent is derived from the latter term,
Cat is also In doubt. but is first rec
ognized In catulus, diminutive of
CAMS. dog. 1t was applied to the
young Of almost any animal, as the
English words pup. kitten, cub, etc.
Bear b the result OF tongue twisting,
from the Latin fera, wild beast.
Deer Is Of obscure origin, but may
have been an adjective, meaning wild.
Elk Is derived from the same root as
Gland. and the history Of the latter
word is an interesting one 1t meant
sufferer. and was applied by the
Teutons to the elk of the old world
on account Of the awkward gait and
stiff movements of this ungainly aui-
NAL.
Squirrel has a poetic origin in the
Greek language. its original meaning
being shadow tail. Tiger is far more
intricate. The old Persian word tlr
meant arrow, while tighra signifed
sharp. The application to this great
animal was in allusion to the swiftness
with which the tiger leaps upon it,
prey.-Detroit News Tribune.