Etymology
The genus name Cryptoprocta refers to how the animal's anus is hidden by its anal pouch, from the Ancient Greek words crypto- "hidden", and procta "anus". The species name ferox is the Latin adjective "fierce" or "wild." Its common name is spelled fossa in English or fosa in Malagasy, the Austronesian language from which it was taken, but some authors have adopted the Malagasy spelling in English. The word is similar to posa (meaning "cat") in the Iban language (another Austronesian language) from Borneo, and both terms may derive from trade languages from 1600s. However, an alternative etymology suggests a link to another word that comes from Malay: pusa refers to the Malayan weasel (Mustela nudipes). The Malay word pusa could have become posa for cats in Borneo, while in Madagascar the word could have become fosa to refer to the fossa.
Read more about this topic: Fossa (animal)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
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“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)