Dormouse Definition

dôrmous
dormice
noun
Any of a family (Gliridae) of small, furry-tailed, mostly tree-dwelling Old World rodents.
Webster's New World
(UK) Muscardinus avellanarius, the hazel dormouse.
Wiktionary
(figuratively) A person who sleeps a great deal, or who falls asleep readily (by analogy with the sound hibernation of the dormouse).
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Dormouse

Noun

Singular:
dormouse
Plural:
dormice

Origin of Dormouse

  • Middle English perhaps alteration (influenced by mous mouse) of Anglo-Norman dormeus inclined to sleep, hibernating from Old French dormir to sleep dormant

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English dormous, of uncertain origin. Possibly from dor-, from Old Norse dár (“benumbed”) + mous (“mouse”). More at doze, mouse.

    From Wiktionary

  • The word is sometimes considered to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of Old French dormir (“to sleep”), but no such Anglo-Norman word is known to have existed.

    From Wiktionary

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