Hamster

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈhæmstÉš/

Origin

1607; from German Hamster, from Old High German hamastra, hamustro, from Old East Slavic хомѣсторъ, хомѣстаръ, compound of (1) хомѣкъ ‘hamster’ (compare Russian хомяк, Polish chomik), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kāmia (compare Latvian kāmis ‘hamster’, Lithuanian kãmas ‘rat’),

Ernst Fraenkel, Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, I-II (Heidelberg-Göttingen: Carl Winter and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1962-1965), 212.

and of (2) Baltic *stara (compare Lithuanian stãras ‘ground squirrel’).

Wolfgang Pfeifer, ed., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, s.v. “Hamster” (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbucher Vertrag, 2005).

C.T. Onions, ed., Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, s.v. “hamster” (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996), 425.

Full definition of hamster

Noun

1. Any of various Old-World rodent species belonging to the subfamily .
1. especially, the golden hamster, , and the dwarf hamsters of genus , often kept as a pets and used in scientific research.
2. It is the cutest sight to see a hamster stuff his puffy cheeks with food; where is it going to store it?
3. Other rodents of similar appearance, such as the or , , mouse-like hamsters of genus , and the white-tailed rat ().

Synonyms

• (golden hamster)

Anagrams

• Amherst