411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Meerkatze
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
German
de 2015 March 6
de:
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Etymology
From de gmh merekatze, from de goh merikazza (11th century); equivalent to de Meer sea Katze cat. So called probably because they were brought to Europe over the sea from Africa. The restriction to the specific species is obviously not original, but a fairly recent scientific use. Johann Christoph Adelung Adelung (ca. 1780) still defines it as referring to any long-tailed monkey. Compare dum meercatte, whence eventually en meerkat.
Pronunciation
de /ˈmeːrˌkatsə/ [ˈmeːɐ̯ˌkät͡sə] [ˈmɛɐ̯-]
de De-Meerkatze.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>)
Noun
f
guenon kind of monkey
de 1907 Friedrich Dahl Versuche über den Farbensinn bei einer Meerkatze
Usage notes
Not to be confused with en meerkat kind of mongoose, the German word for which is de Erdmännchen.
Declension
f
Derived terms
de Grüne Meerkatze f
Further reading
de Cercopithecin monkeys