Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1906-11-08
,. NAMES OF ANIMALS.
The Meaning of some of Those Whsse
Origin We Can Trace.

Origin We Can trace.
Some Of the names Of the common
est animals are lost in the dimness
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 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
one who tears or rends.
Lynx is from the same Latin root
as the word lux Qight) and probably
was given to these wildcats on ac-
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 pars 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 paqpires) are all names from
South American Indian languages.
The coyote and ocelet We're 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 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
tive Indian word; opossum Is from
possowne, and raccoon is from the In
dian arrathkune Thy further aphere-
sis SOON.
Rhinoceros Is pure Greek, meaning
nose horned, but beaver has indeed
had rough time Of it in its travels
through various languages. 1t is hard
| ly recognizable as bebrus, babru and
bru. The latter is the ultimate root
Of the English word brown. The orig
| inal application was doubtless on ac-
count Of the color of the creatures
fur Otter goes back to Sanskrit
where it is udra. The significance Of
this word is in it's close dnship 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, a dog. 1t was applied to the
young 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
4 Elk Is derived from the same root as
i Gland, and the history Of the latter
j word Is an Interesting one. 1t meant
j sufferer, and was applied by the
Teutons to the elk Of the old world
on account Of the awkward gait anC
stiff movements of this ungainly ami
NAL.
! Squirrel has poetic origin in tn.
Greek language, it's original meaning
being shadow tail Tiger is far NOR,
intricate The old Persian word til
meant arrow, while tighra signitiet
sharp. The application to this grea
animal was in allusion to the swiftnes'
with which the tiger leaps upon 1T
prey Detroit NewsTribune.