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Webster 1913 Edition

Dormouse

Dor′mouse

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Dormice
(#)
.
[Perh. fr. F.
dormir
to sleep (Prov. E.
dorm
to doze) + E.
mouse
; or perh. changed fr. F.
dormeuse
, fem., a sleeper, though not found in the sense of
a dormouse
.]
(Zool.)
A small European rodent of the genus
Myoxus
, of several species. They live in trees and feed on nuts, acorns, etc.; – so called because they are usually torpid in winter.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dormouse

DORMOUSE

,
Noun.
Plu. Dormice. [L., to sleep and mouse.] An animal of the mouse kind, which makes a bed of moss or dry leaves, in a hollow tree or under shrubs, lays in a store of nuts or other food, and on the approach of cold weather, rolls itself in a ball and sleeps the greatest part of the winter.

Definition 2024

dormouse

dormouse

English

African Dormouse

Noun

dormouse ‎(plural dormice)

  1. Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae; also called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by some taxonomists.
  2. (Britain) Muscardinus avellanarius, the hazel dormouse.
  3. (figuratively) A person who sleeps a great deal, or who falls asleep readily (by analogy with the sound hibernation of the dormouse).

Translations

References

  1. ↑ Random House Dictionary, dormouse.

Etymology

From Middle English dormous, of uncertain origin. Possibly from dor-, from Old Norse dár ‎(“benumbed”) + mous ‎(“mouse”). More at doze, mouse.

The word is sometimes considered to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of Old French dormir ‎(“to sleep”), but no such Anglo-Norman word is known to have existed.[1]

Pronunciation

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