woodchuck

Meaning

Noun

• A rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots, Marmota monax (species).

Origin

• Borrowed from Cree ocêk ("fisher"), borrowed from Ojibwe ojiig ("fisher, marten"), or a similar term in a related Algonquian language, subsequently reapplied to the groundhog.
• An earlier form of this word, woodshock, still sometimes designates the marten.