pangolin

Where does the word "pangolin" come from? It comes from Malay pengguling, and was adopted directly into English (1770s).

Pangolin’s story begins in Malay: pengguling meant “roller.” 'roller', from guling 'to roll', for the way the Sunda pangolin of the Malay Peninsula curls into an armoured ball. It reached English by 1770s as pangolin. Adopted through naturalists' accounts; long heavily trafficked, all eight species were moved to CITES Appendix I in 2016, banning international commercial trade. Today, pangolin means a scaly ant-eating mammal of Africa and Asia.

1. Stage 1 · Malay · 1700s pengguling "roller", 'roller', from guling 'to roll', for the way the Sunda pangolin of the Malay Peninsula curls into an armoured ball.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1770s pangolin "scaly anteater", adopted through naturalists' accounts; long heavily trafficked, all eight species were moved to CITES Appendix I in 2016, banning international commercial trade.