dormouse

Meaning

1. Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae (syns. Myoxidae, Muscardinidae).
2. Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae (syns. Myoxidae, Muscardinidae).
3. Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae (syns. Myoxidae, Muscardinidae).
4. A person who sleeps a great deal, or who falls asleep readily (by analogy with the sound hibernation of the dormouse).

Synonyms

edible

mole

sleeper

field-mouse

fat dormouse

hazel mouse

loir

hazel-mouse

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈdɔɹmaʊs/

Etymology

From Middle English dormous, of uncertain origin. Possibly from a dialectal *dor-, from Old Norse dár (“benumbed”) + mous (“mouse”). More at doze, mouse.
The word is sometimes conjectured to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of Old French dormir (“to sleep”) (as *dormouse (“tending to be dormant”), with second element mistaken for mouse), but no such Anglo-Norman term is known to have existed.