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Added 9 October 2026

squirrel

/ˈskwɪ.ɹ(ə)l/ noun

In Latin: sciūrus Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about squirrel at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any of the rodents of the family Sciuridae.
tree squirrels
Any of those distinguished typically by a large bushy tail; any of the tree squirrels of subfamily Sciurinae or phenotypically similar sciurids.
Someone who displays squirrel-like qualities such as stealing or hoarding objects.

verb

To store in a secretive manner, to hide something for future use.
To become distracted.

Origin

From Middle English squirel, squyrelle, from Anglo-Norman esquirel and Old French escurel (whence French écureuil), from Vulgar Latin *scūriolus, diminutive of *scūrius, variant of Latin sciūrus, from Ancient Greek σκίουρος (skíouros, “shadow-tail”, from σκιά (skiá, “shadow”) + οὐρά (ourá, “tail”)). Displaced native Middle English acquerne, aquerne, from Old English ācweorna. See dialectical English con and puristic English oakwern.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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