🇪🇸Spanish Source WordCode: ES

zarigüeya

Pronunciation / Transliteration: sa.ɾiˈɣwe.ʝa

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Opossum/əˈpɒs.əm/
nounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #14200 frequency
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🇪🇸 Example Sentence in Spanish:

"La zarigüeya es el único marsupial que vive al norte de México."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

1 sense
As noun
  1. 1

    A nocturnal, arboreal marsupial native to the Americas, noted for its prehensile tail and ability to feign death when threatened.

    "An opossum rummaged through the garbage cans in the backyard during the night."

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Synonyms (2)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Powhatan (Algonquian) word 'apasum', meaning 'white beast', recorded by Captain John Smith in the early 17th century. The initial 'o' was added later through folk etymology, reflecting a phonetic adaptation in early American English.

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