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The word "opossum" originates from the Powhatan language, spoken by Native American tribes in the Virginia area. It is derived from the term "aposoum," which means "white animal." The term was later adopted into English during the early colonial period and has since been used to refer to the marsupial native to the Americas. The prefix "o-" was added in English, possibly influenced by the word "the" in the original Native American term.

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1w ago

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Related Questions

What languages does the word opossum come from?

The Virginia opossum is the original animal named "opossum". The word comes from Algonquian wapathemwa meaning "white animal". Colloquially, the Virginia opossum is frequently called simply "possum".


What language opossum came from?

The word opossum comes from Algonquian wapathemwameaning "white dog".


What is French word for English word opossum?

The word is the same in French.


How many syllables are in the word opossum?

3


How many syllables does opossum have?

The word "opossum" has four syllables: o-pos-sum. Each part of the word is pronounced separately, which contributes to the total syllable count.


How do you use the word opossum in a sentence?

The opossum ran up the tree to the highest branch to get to the apples, then had a very yummy dinner.


What is a 7 letter word made form the letters in goosebumps?

The word is the animal name "opossum."


How do you say opossum?

Pretty much like it is spelled. Go to this page and click on the speaker icon to hear the word pronounced: http://www.answers.com/topic/opossum


What is the origin of the word ballot?

the origin is where the word came from but the specific origin of the word ballot is latin root word.


How do you spell lopposuim?

This appears to be a typo of the word "opossum" (North American marsupial).


What is the origin of the word origin?

The word "origin" is derived from the French word "origin" and the Latin word "originem," both of which mean, beginning, descent, birth, and rise.


What is the plural of Oppossum?

The plural of opossum is opossums. In case you are wondering, opossa is wrong. The word is not taken from Latin. It is an Algonquian (American Indian) word.