Etymology

Norway rat

Today it means: The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

The common name was popularised (and perhaps coined) by English naturalist John Berkenhout, in his Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain (1769). Berkenhout believed the species migrated to England from Norwegian ships in 1728; he is also responsible for the scientific name.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.