dormouse

American  

[dawr-mous] / ˈdɔrˌmaʊs /

noun

dormice plural

1. any small, furry-tailed, Old World rodent of the family Gliridae, resembling small squirrels in appearance and habits.

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dormouse British  

/ ˈdɔːˌmaʊs /

noun

1. any small Old World rodent of the family Gliridae , esp the Eurasian Muscardinus avellanarius, resembling a mouse with a furry tail

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dormice
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dormouse

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English dormowse, dormoise; etymology obscure; perhaps Anglo-French derivative of Old French dormir “to sleep,” with final syllable reanalyzed as mouse, but no such Anglo-French word is known; see dormant, mouse

Example Sentences

To test this, they took skeletal muscle samples from two small hibernators -- the Thirteen-lined ground squirrel and the Garden dormouse -- and two large hibernators -- the American black bear and brown bear.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2024

The squat, dinosaur-eating mammal Repenomamus was about the size of a badger, the early placental mammal Eomaia was about the size of a shrew, and the spiky Spinolestes was about as tiny as a dormouse.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2023

Some people can also echolocate by clicking their tongues, a behavior shared by only a few other animals, including tenrecs, a shrew-like animal from Madagascar, and the Vietnamese pygmy dormouse, which is effectively blind.

From National Geographic • Feb. 3, 2021

She holds a hibernating dormouse, a slumbering creature “the size of a walnut,” in the palm of her hand.

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2020

The awesome power of the neutron star is lurking in the nucleus of every atom, hidden in every teacup and dormouse, every breath of air, every apple pie.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan