Animals, plants & weatherMyths & disputes

meerkat

Middle Dutch meercatte 'sea cat' was a name for a monkey brought from overseas; at the Cape the Dutch reused it for the small burrowing mongoose, and wildlife television took that meerkat to Japan, Korea and Thailand.

Weakest linkProbable

The story you may have heard

It is sometimes traced to Hindi/Sanskrit markaṭa 'monkey', but the Old High German form is far older than any contact with India.

The road to English

From English to Japanese

From English to Korean

From English to Thai

1400Middle Dutch

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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