echidna

See also: Echidna, and echidnă

English

An echidna

Etymology

Coined in scientific literature around 1811. Probably from Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) via Latin echidna. Compare ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog, etc.”). However, this sense is problematic (unless it is a reference to the ant-eating tongue). The name perhaps belongs to Latin echinus (“sea urchin, hedgehog”) from the aforementioned Ancient Greek term's alternate sense of "sea-urchin" (also "sharp points"), which Watkins explains as "snake-eater", from ἔχις (ékhis, “snake”), though it may actually be from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰis (“hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals”). The 1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica deduces thus the animal's alternative name as "porcupine ant-eater".

Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the name refers to Echidna as the name of a serpent-nymph in Greek mythology, "a beautiful woman in the upper part of her body; but instead of legs and feet, she had from the waist downward, the form of a serpent", in which case the animal was named for its mixed features (early naturalists doubted whether it was a mammal or amphibian). Ultimately, the etymology may be from a synthesis of all the roots above. (From OED.)

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĕkĭdnä, IPA^(key): /əˈkɪdnə/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

echidna (plural echidnas or echidnae)

1. Any of the species of small spined monotremes in family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.

Synonyms

• (species of Tachyglossidae): spiny anteater, bunning

Derived terms

• Attenborough's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)
• Barton's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bartoni)
• cyclops long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)
• echidnine
• eastern long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bartoni)
• long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus)
• short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus)
• short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
• Sir David's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)
• western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni)

Translations

any of the four species of small spined monotremes

• Afrikaans: mierystervark
• Arabic: إِيكِيدْنَا f (ʔikīdnā)
• Armenian: եքիդնա (hy) (ekʻidna)
• Assamese: গোৱালিয়ান (güalian), একিনা (ekina)
• Asturian: equidna (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: yexidna
• Belarusian: яхі́дна f (jaxídna)
• Breton: ekidne
• Bulgarian: ехи́дна (bg) f (ehídna)
• Catalan: equidna m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 針鼴／针鼹 (zh) (zhēnyǎn), 食蟻蝟／食蚁猬 (shíyǐwèi), 刺食蟻獸／刺食蚁兽 (cìshíyǐshòu)

• Czech: ježura f
• Danish: myrepindsvin n
• Darkinjung: kunyi
• Dutch: mierenegel (nl) m
• Erzya: нерьсеель (ńeŕśejeľ)
• Esperanto: ekidno
• Estonian: sipelgasiil
• Finnish: nokkasiili (fi)
• French: échidné (fr) m
• Galician: equidna (gl) f
• Georgian: იქედნე (ikedne), ექიდნა (ekidna)
• German: Ameisenigel (de) m, Schnabeligel (de) m, Echidna f
• Gooniyandi: minaji
• Greek: έχιδνα (el) f (échidna), αγκαθωτός μυρμηγκοφάγος m (agkathotós myrmigkofágos)
• Guugu Yimidhirr: balin.ga
• Hebrew: הנמלים
• Hindi: एकिडना (ekiḍnā)
• Hungarian: hangyászsün (hu)
• Icelandic: mjónefur (is) m
• Ido: ekidno (io)
• Indonesian: nokdiak
• Irish: eicidneach
• Italian: echidna (it) f
• Japanese: 針土竜 (ja) (ハリモグラ, harimogura), エキドナ (ekidona)
• Javanese: ekidna
• Kazakh: түрпі (türpı)
• Khmer: អ៊ីឈីដាណា (ʼiichiidaanaa)
• Korean: 가시두더지 (gasidudeoji), 바늘두더지 (baneuldudeoji)
• Kriol: bogibain
• Kyrgyz: ехидна (ky) (yehidna)
• Latin: echidna f
• Latvian: ehidna f
• Lithuanian: echidna f
• Macedonian: ехи́дна f (ehídna)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: maurpiggsvin n, maurpinnsvin n

  Nynorsk: maurpiggsvin n

• Polish: kolczatka (pl) f
• Portuguese: equidna (pt) f
• Romanian: echidnă (ro) f, (rare) echidneu
• Russian: ехи́дна (ru) f (jexídna)
• Samoan: ekitina
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кљунати јежак m, је́жак m (hedgehog)

  Roman: kljunati ježak m, jéžak (sh) m (hedgehog)

• Slovak: ježura f
• Slovene: kljunati ježek (sl) m
• Spanish: equidna m
• Swahili: mhanganungu, ekidna
• Swedish: myrpiggsvin (sv) n
• Tagalog: ekidna
• Tajik: ехидна (yexidna)
• Thai: อิคิดนา (ì-kít-nâa)
• Turkish: ekidna, dikenli karıncayiyen
• Ukrainian: єхи́дна f (jexýdna)
• Uyghur: يېخىدنا (yëxidna)
• Uzbek: yexidna
• Vietnamese: thú lông nhím (porcupine-furred mammal)
• Wambaya: nyilangunya
• Wardaman: gawalyan
• Welsh: ecidna

See also

• Tachyglossidae
• Tachyglossus
• Zaglossus
• Piggi-Billa
• puggle

Anagrams

• chained

Italian

Noun

echidna f (plural echidne)

1. echidna

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “viper”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eˈkʰid.na/, [ɛˈkʰɪnːä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈkid.na/, [eˈkid̪nä]

Noun

echidna f (genitive echidnae); first declension

1. an adder, viper

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	echidna	echidnae
genitive	echidnae	echidnārum
dative	echidnae	echidnīs
accusative	echidnam	echidnās
ablative	echidnā	echidnīs
vocative	echidna	echidnae

Related terms

• Echidna

References

• “echidna”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “echidna”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eˈkidna]

Noun

echidna f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of echidnă