stekelvarken

Meaning

a porcupine, large rodent of the families Erethizontidae and Hystricidae

Concepts

porcupine

hedgehog

🦔

porpentine

Czech hedgehog

Synonyms

egel

🦔

Translations

Stachelschwein

porco-espinho

porc-épic

porcospino

porc espí

puercoespín

ακανθόχοιρος

istrice

eriçon

hystrix

σκαντζόχοιρος

قنفذ

🦔

riccio

puerco espín

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsteːkəlˌvɑrkə(n)/

Etymology

Cognate with Italian: porcospino

Cognate with English: porcupine

Cognate with Afrikaans: ystervark

In summary

1708, from stekel (“spine”) + varken (“pig”), perhaps through German Stachelschwein (1556), eventually after the Romance family of terms to which belong Italian porcospino, English porcupine. A slightly earlier Dutch word was ijzervarken (literally “iron pig”), whence Afrikaans ystervark.