musaraigne
French
editEtymology
editFrom Middle French mesiraigne (16th c.), merisengne (15th c.), from Latin mūsarāneus, from Latin mūs (“mouse”) + arāneus (“spider-like”). So called because the bite of many shrews (e.g. Neomys fodiens) is venomous. According to the Trésor informatisé, the word is a borrowing from Latin, but the Middle French forms look by no means learned and could well be inherited. The modern -u- may be a Latinate alteration, however.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmusaraigne f (plural musaraignes)
Related terms
editFurther reading
edit- “musaraigne”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms derived from Latin
- French compound terms
- French 3-syllable words
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- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Soricomorphs