Meanings
plural aardvarks · alternative aard-vark · alternative erdvark
- The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata and somewhat resembling a pig. Common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.First known use late 18ᵗʰ c.
The aardvark burrows in the ground and feeds mostly on termites, which it catches with its long, slimy tongue.
1 more example
If ‘aardvark lover’ has that syntactic structure, then it determinately means “lover of aardvarks.
2007 August 15, Wayne A. Davis, “Replies to Green, Szabó, Jeshion, and Siebel”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 137, number 3, →DOISynonyms: African anteater, antbear, ant bear, anteater, earth pig
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata and somewhat resembling a pig. Common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
More synonyms by meaning
nounnocturnal burrowing mammal of the grasslands of Africa that feeds on termites; sole extant representative of the order Tubulidentata
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Dutchvarken
- Middle Dutchaerde
- Afrikaansaardvark
- Englishaardvark
Borrowed from Afrikaans aardvark (now rare), erdvark, from aarde (“earth”, from Middle Dutch aerde) + vark (“pig”, from Middle Dutch varken). Early European colonists in South Africa noticed that the animal was similar to a pig, while aarde hints at the animal's habit of burrowing.
More words from Afrikaans, Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans erdvark, aardvark
- erdvarkmammal
- aardvarkmammal
Arabic خِنْزِير اَلْأَرْض
- خِنْزِير اَلْأَرْض (ḵinzīr al-ʔarḍ)mammal
Basque urde inurrijale
- urde inurrijalemammal
Bengali আর্ডভার্ক, দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকার জন্তুবিশেষ
- আর্ডভার্ক (arḍobhark)mammal
- দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকার জন্তুবিশেষ (dokkhin aphrikar jontubiśeś)mammal
Bulgarian мравояд
- мравояд (mravojad)mammal
Catalan porc formiguer
- porc formiguermammal
Chinese Mandarin 土豚
- 土豚 (tǔtún)mammal
Czech hrabáč, hrabáč kapský
- hrabáčmammal
- hrabáč kapskýmammal
Danish jordsvin
- jordsvinmammal
Dutch aardvarken
- aardvarkenmammal
Esperanto orikteropo, terporko
- orikteropomammal
- terporkomammal
Estonian tuhnik
- tuhnikmammal
Finnish maasika
- maasikamammal
French oryctérope
- oryctéropemammal
German Erdferkel
- Erdferkelmammal
Greek μυρμηγκοφάγος
- μυρμηγκοφάγος (myrmigkofágos)mammal
Hebrew שנבוב
- שנבובmammal
Hungarian földimalac
- földimalacmammal
Icelandic jarðsvín
- jarðsvínmammal
Irish arcán talún
- arcán talúnmammal
Italian oritteropo
- oritteropomammal
Japanese 土豚
- 土豚 (tsuchibuta)mammal
Korean 땅돼지
- 땅돼지 (ttangdwaeji)mammal
Latin orycteropus
- orycteropusmammal
Lithuanian vamzdžiadančiai
- vamzdžiadančiaimammal
Malay ardvark, babi tanah
- ardvarkmammal
- babi tanahmammal
Norwegian jordsvin
- jordsvinmammal
Polish mrównik, prosię ziemne
- mrównikmammal
- prosię ziemnemammal
Portuguese oricterope, porco-da-terra
- oricteropemammal
- porco-da-terramammal
- jimbomammal
- porco-formigueiromammal
- timbamammal
- timbomammal
- aardvarkmammal
- orictéropomammal
Romanian porcul termitelor
- porcul termitelormammal
Russian трубкозу́б
- трубкозу́б (trubkozúb)mammal
Scottish Gaelic mathan-sheangan
- mathan-sheanganmammal
Spanish cerdo hormiguero
- cerdo hormigueromammal
Swahili mhanga
- mhangamammal
Swedish jordsvin
- jordsvinmammal
Thai อาร์ดวาร์ก
- อาร์ดวาร์กmammal
Turkish yer domuzu
- yer domuzumammal
Ukrainian трубкозу́б
- трубкозу́б (trubkozúb)mammal
Vietnamese lợn đất
- lợn đấtmammal
Welsh baedd daear, grugarth
- baedd daearmammal
- grugarthmammal
Yiddish ערדשווײַן
- ערדשווײַן (erdshvayn)mammal
Zulu isambane
- isambanemammal
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
aardvark. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aardvark
“aardvark.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aardvark. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aardvark,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aardvark.
Source: aardvark on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.