Morris tribune., 1905-07-29
NAMES An. or ANIMALS.
Fz1e Meaning OF Some of Those whose
Origin We Can Trace.

TN1e Meaning OF Some Oh FMOSe w NOSE
Origin We Can Trace.
Some of the names of the commons
est animals are lost in the dlmnesa
Of antiquity, such as fox, weaseix
sheep, horse, dog and baboon. OF the
origin of these the clew Is forever lost.
With camel one cannot go 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
tone who tears or rends
LYNX is from the same Latin root
as the word lux QighD and probably
was given to these wildcats on &C
aro,uat of the fierce brightness Of their
aayes. Lion is, of course, from the
latin leo, which word, in turn, is lost
sar back in the Egyptian tongue.
where the word for the king Of beasts
was labu. The compound word
aeopard is first found IN the Persian
ganguage, where pars stands for pan.
aher. Seal. very appropriately, was
once a word meaning of the sea: close
to the Latin sal, the sea.
Puma, jnguar, tapir and peccary
4from paqIires) are all names from
South American Indian languages.
The coyote and ocelet were called
.acoyoti and ocelote by the Mexicans
Song before Cortes lanued on their
shores.
Moose is from the Indian word
zmouswah, meaning wood eater;
skunk, from seganku, an Algonquin
term; wap:ti in the Creek language
means white deer, and was originally
applied to the Rocky mountain goat,
but the name is now restricted to the
American elk. Caribou is also ma
live Indian word; opossum is from
possowne, and raccoon is from the In
dian arrathkune (by further aphere-
isis soon).
Rhinoceros is pure Greek, meaning
nose horned, but beaver has indeed
had rough time Of it in it's travels
through various languages. 1t is hard
fy recognizable as bebrus, babru and
Dru. The latter is the ultimate root |
of the English word brown. The orig |
jnal application was doubtless on &C.
count of the color Of the creatures
fur. Otter goes back to Sanskrit
where 1t is udra. The significance of
This word Is in it's close kinship to
ndan. meaning water.
The little mouse hands It's name
down through the years from the old,
old Sansllrh, 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
goung of almost any animal as the
English words pup. kitten, cub, etc.
Bear is 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
a 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 anil
NAL.
Squirrel has poetic origin in the
Greek language. its original meaning
being shadow TAIL Tiger is far more
intricate. The old Persian word tir
meant arrow, while tighra signi6ed
sharp. The application to this great
animal was in allusion to the swiftness
with which the tiger leaps upon Its
prey.-Detroit News-Tribune.