dormouse

[ dawr-mous ]

noun,plural dor·mice

[dawr-mahys]. /ˈdɔrˌmaɪs/.

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

Origin of dormouse

First recorded in1400–50; 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

Words Nearby dormouse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dormouse in a sentence

As a contrast in size may be mentioned the dormouse (gls), which was thought a great delicacy.
The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone Johnston
The polatouch is a different species from the squirrel rat, or dormouse, though he participates of the nature of all three.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Alice did not wish to offend the dormouse again, so she began very cautiously: 'But I don't understand.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Lewis Carroll
The dormouse has hid the brooch; and, pray, why am I for ever and ever to be denied the sight of my case?
The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Volume I (of 2) | Florence A. Thomas Marshall
But Dorothy—Dorothy dormouse, as he liked to call her—set these preconceived notions at defiance.
A Flight with the Swallows | Emma Marshall

British Dictionary definitions for dormouse

dormouse

/ (ˈdɔːˌmaʊs) /

nounplural -mice

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

Origin of dormouse

C15: dor-, perhaps from Old French dormir to sleep, from Latin dormīre + mouse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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