English
squirrel
Squirrel comes from Anglo-Norman esquirel, and goes back to Ancient Greek σκίουρος ‘shadow-tail’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκίουροςskíouros‘shadow-tail’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciūrus
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*scūriolusreconstructedvariant of sciūrus
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400esquirel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500squirel‘a squirrel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1865squirrel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκίουροςskíouros‘shadow-tail’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciūrus
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*scūriolusreconstructedvariant of sciūrus
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400esquirel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500squirel‘a squirrel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1865squirrel
Earliest quotation: 1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod: “He also said that minks, muskrats, foxes, coons, and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘darkness, shadow’
scene, shame, shadow, scenario, shade, scenic, obscure, scotia, hoar, skene, 31 more
Today it means
noun Any of the rodents of the family Sciuridae.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek σκίουρος / squirrel