hamster

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Hamster,^[2][3][4][5] from Middle High German hamster, also hamastra,^[2][3][4] from Old High German hamustro, also hamustra.^[2][5][6] The Old High German word and Old Saxon hamustra are recorded only as glosses of Latin curculiō (“corn weevil”); the OED suggests that they, like the Latin word, could be used of various pests of crops and grain.^[2][7][4] The Germanic word is probably of Slavic origin, from Old East Slavic хомѣсторъ (xoměstorŭ, “hamster”),^{[2][4][6][5][8][3][1]} which the OED gives as Old Russian, recorded in 1073, and others as Old Slavic or Old Church Slavonic.^[2][4][6][3] Its further origin is uncertain: the OED suggests an Iranian language, comparing Avestan hamaēstar- (“one who overthrows, tramples down”), so that the animal would be named as a pest of crops or stored food;^[2] Etymonline, Klein and Barnhart instead compare a first element as in хомѣкъ (xoměkŭ, “hamster”) and a second as in Lithuanian staras (“ground squirrel”).^[3][6][4][1] Weekley thought it of obscure, probably non-Indo-European origin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small burrowing rodent with large cheek pouches: 1607, in Topsell's Historie of Foure-footed Beastes.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The hamster is native to south-eastern Europe and western Asia, and its English name came from German.^[10][3] Etymonline gives German rat as its older English name, and Ayto notes that it was also called so in the 18th century.^[3][10] From 1821 the word was also used for the animal's fur.^[2] Its best-known species today, the golden hamster, is a popular pet.^[11][7]

Timeline

• 1607 – a small burrowing rodent with cheek pouches.^[2][4][5]
• 1821 – the fur of the hamster.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small, short-tailed, burrowing rodent of Europe and Asia with a stout body and large cheek pouches for carrying food, often kept as a pet: Our neighbours' children keep two hamsters in the kitchen.^{[11][5][2][7]}
2. The fur of the hamster.^[2]

Word family

• golden hamster

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins