vole

vole · noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*walþuz“forest”
2. Old Norse · derived fromvǫllr“field”
3. Norn · borrowed fromvollj
4. English todayvole

Borrowed from Norn vollj, from Old Norse vǫllr (“field”), from Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”). The Orkney dialectal term vole mouse, lit. “field mouse”, was introduced to general English by George Barry in 1805; John Fleming in 1828 was first to refer to the creature by the epithet vole alone. Displaced earlier names for these species which also classified them as mice, e.g. short-tailed field mouse.

vole · noun, verb²

1. French · borrowed fromvole
2. English todayvole

Borrowed from French vole.

Words from the same roots