marmoset

[ mahr-muh-zet, -set ]

/ ˈmɑr məˌzɛt, -ˌsɛt /

noun

any of several small, squirrellike, South and Central American monkeys of the genera Callithrix, Leontocebus, etc., having soft fur and a long, nonprehensile tail: some species are endangered.

Nearby words

marmolada, marmora, marmorated, marmoreal, marmoreally, marmoset, marmot, marne, maroc, marocain, maroni

Origin of marmoset

1350–1400; Middle English marmusette a kind of monkey, an idol < Old French marmouset, apparently equivalent to marmos(er) to murmur (marm- (see marmot) + -oser v. suffix) + -et -et

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for marmoset

Down the passage came leaping and gamboling the doctor's marmoset.
The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu|Sax Rohmer
Were there no means whereby I could induce the marmoset to approach me?
The Devil Doctor|Sax Rohmer
He can scramble into a manger—where my unruly hens persist in making an occasional nest—like a marmoset.
The Prairie Mother|Arthur Stringer
Round about our feet, now leaping ahead, now gamboling back, came and went the marmoset.
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu|Sax Rohmer

Rick petted the marmoset, then put him back on his file-safe perch.
The Scarlet Lake Mystery|Harold Leland Goodwin

British Dictionary definitions for marmoset

marmoset

/ (ˈmɑːməˌzɛt) /

noun

any small South American monkey of the genus Callithrix and related genera, having long hairy tails, clawed digits, and tufts of hair around the head and ears: family Callithricidae

pygmy marmoset a related form, Cebuella pygmaea: the smallest monkey, inhabiting tropical forests of the Amazon

Word Origin for marmoset

C14: from Old French marmouset grotesque figure, of obscure origin

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

Word Origin and History for marmoset

marmoset

"small monkey," late 14c., from Old French marmoset "grotesque figurine; fool, jester" (late 13c.), perhaps a variant of marmote "long-tailed monkey, ape," then, as a term of endearment, "little child;" said to be from marmonner, marmotter "to mutter, mumble," probably of imitative origin. Some French authorities suggest a derivation of marmoset from marmor "marble," as if "little marble figurine."