marsupial
UK /mɑːˈsuː.pi.əl/ · US /mɑɹˈsu.pi.əl/ noun, adjective
Forms marsupials
- noun A mammal of the infraclass Marsupialia, including those where the female has a pouch in which it rears the young through early infancy, such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats and opossums, as well as the pouchless shrew opossums.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a marsupial.
- adjective (anatomy) Of or relating to a marsupium.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin marsūpial, from marsūpiālis (“of a purse”) and marsūpium (“purse, pouch”), from Ancient Greek μαρσύπιον (marsúpion) or μαρσύππιον (marsúppion), variants of μαρσίππιον (marsíppion), diminutive of μάρσιππος (mársippos, “bag, pouch”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having a pouch for carrying the immature young; of or pertaining to the Marsupialia.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a marsupium; as, the marsupial bones.
- noun One of the Marsupialia.
Etymology [Cf. F. marsupial.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “marsupial”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details