opossum

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun small furry Australian arboreal marsupials having long usually prehensile tails
noun nocturnal arboreal marsupial having a naked prehensile tail found from southern North America to northern South America

From Powhatan aposoum (“white animal”), from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa (“white dog”); compare Ojibwe waabasim (“white dog”).

Opossums sometimes trouble the poultry. — A New Guide for Emigrants to the West, John Mason Peck
--THE OPOSSUM AND ITS LITTLE ONES. — Adventures of a Young Naturalist, Lucien Biart
Oh, you funny little opossum, mop your eyes and take me out! — The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition, Rudyard Kipling

phalanger, possum

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