Etymologically
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hamster

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈhæm(p)stə/[1]
  • US: /ˈhæm(p)stɚ/[1]

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