spermophile

/ˈspɜː(ɹ)məfaɪl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Scrabble Score

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Meaning

noun

"Your cousin, Seek Seek the Spermophile, sometimes called Gopher Squirrel, who lives on the open plains of the West where there are no rocks or stones. He likes best the flat, open country. He is called Spermophile because that means seed-eater, and he lives largely on seeds, especially on grain."

From Spermophilus from σπέρμα (spérma, “seed”) + φιλέω (philéō, “love”), hence, "seed-lover". This genus formerly included most of the terrestrial squirrels, but all of the North American species have been split off into separate genera.

spermophiles (plural)

leopard-spermophile

Questions

How do you pronounce spermophile?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈspɜː(ɹ)məfaɪl/.

What does spermophile mean?

A terrestrial burrowing rodent; ground squirrel.

Where does spermophile come from?

How to pronounce spermophile

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