sleepmarken
English edit
Etymology edit
Unknown. Likely from Norwegian slepe (“drag”) + mark (“worm”). Attested from circa 1762; see quotations below.
Noun edit
sleepmarken
- (uncommon) A hagfish, an eel-like marine fish, Myxine glutinosa.
- 1762 October 9, Johan Ernst Gunnerus, “Letter addressed to Carl Linnaeus”, in The Linnaean Correspondence[1], retrieved 4 January 2018:
- 3. Myxine glutinosa ["slepmark" or "pirål" in Norwegian], which Gunnerus has dissected himself, and where he had clearly observed the difference between the sexes. [The article published by Gunnerus was, "Om sleep-marken"].
- 2011 December 19, Jancuk Jaran, “Hagfish”, in All Animals[2], retrieved 4 January 2018:
- Linné discussed the strange “lamprey” with Norwegian Bishop and naturalist Johan Ernst Gunnerus and they both classified it as a worm. In 1763, Gunnerus wrote about the creature and he then referred to it as a Sleep-Marken.
References edit
- “Sleepmarken”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.