muskrat

Where does the word "muskrat" come from? It comes from Powhatan muscascus, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).

Muskrat’s story begins in Powhatan: muscascus meant “the aquatic rodent (lit. "it is red").” Literally "it is red"; the native name for the aquatic rodent, later reshaped by folk association with "musk" and "rat". It reached English by 1600s as muskrat. Adopted and reshaped by English colonists in Virginia. Today, muskrat means a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to North America.

1. Stage 1 · Powhatan · pre-1600s muscascus "the aquatic rodent (lit. "it is red")", literally "it is red"; the native name for the aquatic rodent, later reshaped by folk association with "musk" and "rat".
2. Stage 2 · English · 1600s muskrat "a large aquatic rodent", adopted and reshaped by English colonists in Virginia.